Fox Attacks Gregory for Questioning Boehner on Birtherism

Via Media Matters.

On his Fox News show tonight, Bill O'Reilly criticized NBC's David Gregory for wasting "valuable airtime" during the February 13 edition of Meet The Press by pushing Boehner on his refusal to condemn those who claim Obama is Muslim. O'Reilly said of Gregory: "We've got a country that's just about bankrupt. We may be selling furniture on Capitol Hill pretty soon. And he's back to the birth certificate Muslim stuff." According to O'Reilly, the issue is settled and stupid, and he can't figure out why NBC would be talking about it.

O'Reilly argues that this issue is "getting no traction" and doesn't affect any public policy issue - except that it came up multiple times at CPAC.



And this Fox News Focus Group who think Obama is a Muslim.



This is why the point is relevant, and that fact that less than half of Republicans think Obama was an American.

Also...

A Harris poll released on March 24 found that a majority of Republican respondents believe that President Obama "is a socialist," "wants to take away Americans' right to own guns," "is a Muslim," "wants to turn over the sovereignty of the United States to a one world government," and "has done many things that are unconstitutional." The findings follow a year of such smears and attacks on Obama by conservatives.

Mary Catherine ham accuse NBC of having a double-standard because supposedly Chris Matthews has argued that Obama could resolve this by "Showing his Birth Certificate" but that's frankly a lie since Matthews already has a copy of his certificate.



The Only Official State Certified Document is the one that Obama has already released. There is no evidence that his mother left the country while she was pregnant and then smuggled her son back into Hawaii somehow. There is no evidence that Obama is a Muslim, or a Socialist (since Socialism is than transfer of all private property into public hands).

The real issue isn't the Birthers and Islamophobes, it's the fact that people like Boehner and cantor are more than willing to Pander to them by taking the position that they somehow have a "Right" to believe complete and total nonsense.

Just like the crazy idea that tax cuts increase revenues, and spending it "out of controL" when in fact it's actually gone down slightly for this year.

Vyan

Anderson Cooper PWNS Arizona State Birther

Wherein Anderson Cooper flays and fillets Arizona State Republican Rep Cecil Ash over his support for the new Birther Bill that has just passed the State Legislature.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

COOPER: Joining us now is Arizona Republican State Representative Cecil Ash, who voted for the measure.

Thanks very much for being with us.

Do you believe Barack Obama is an American born in Hawaii?

CECIL ASH (R), ARIZONA STATE REPRESENTATIVE: All the evidence I have seen is that he was born in Hawaii. I have seen a birth certificate on the Internet. Of course, you can't believe everything you see on the Internet. So, I have never personally investigated it or studied it.

COOPER: But, Oklahoma, it sounds like you're -- really saying you believe it, but you don't believe what you read on the Internet. So, you do believe he's an American, though?

ASH: Yes, I do.

COOPER: I mean, as you said, the certificate of live birth is available for anyone to see. It's been released. And, in Hawaii, there are only electronic records at this point, and the health department there has verified it. They have made public statements.

So, why vote for something which perpetuates these false Internet rumors?

ASH: Well, Anderson, I think there's been a lot of controversy over the issue. It's created a division among a lot of people in the United States. And, for better or worse, many people don't believe he is a U.S. citizen. They believe he has loyalties -- divided loyalties, I suppose you could say.

COOPER: Right, but those people are wrong. I mean, he is a U.S. citizen.

ASH: Well, you're telling me that he's wrong. I have never investigated that. If he is, then he has nothing to fear.

COOPER: But -- but, I mean, that -- the information is out there. It has been released. It has been shown. There are some people who don't believe it, but there are also some people who believe that the moon is made out of cheese. And you can say you have never investigated it, but I think you would probably say the moon is not made out of cheese.

ASH: Well, I certainly would.

But the reason I spoke up on this bill is simply because there is a lot of division in the country. And I believe this would put an end to any future controversy about a president's qualifications.

COOPER: You told our producer you voted for this because you get a lot of calls from constituents with questions based on things they have read on the Internet.

I mean, isn't it your job as a leader to actually lead, not to throw up your hands and say, well, who knows what's real or not on the Internet, to actually say, well, actually, you know, Hawaii has released this information, and it's factually correct?

ASH: Well, as I said, I haven't personally investigated that. But I -- I think that, if -- if...

COOPER: But, I mean, there's plenty of things you believe that you have not personally investigated.

ASH: That's true.

COOPER: Why, this, are you holding onto?

ASH: Well, what we're requiring here is for a -- a presidential candidate to demonstrate he is qualified.

And I don't think having any presidential candidate -- candidate show that he's qualified by demonstrating the requirements of the requirements, that there's any problem with that.

COOPER: You told my producer you thought the president spent a million dollars fighting the release of his birth certificate, and then that raised concerns for you.

(CROSSTALK)

ASH: That's what I have heard. As I said, it...

COOPER: Right. But that's not -- you know that's actually not true?

ASH: I -- I don't know that that's not true. As I said, I haven't studied it. You get a lot of information on the Internet. As you know, much of it is inaccurate.

This has not been a focus of my attention for the last two years. But I know it is a matter of -- of controversy for many people. And I looked at this as simply a -- a means to end that controversy.

COOPER: You -- you also said to our producer that the president identified himself as a foreigner on his college application.

ASH: Yes.

COOPER: You know that's not true, right?

ASH: I didn't know that that was not true.

COOPER: That's a story that was put out on April Fool's Day. It's a fake AP news story.

ASH: Like I said, I -- I'm reluctant to read anything I read on the Internet, including the evidence about his birth certificate.

This -- this is not the responsibility of the average citizen.

COOPER: So -- so -- so, the only -- the only way you will believe a birth certificate is if, what, you see it for yourself at the state office in Hawaii? I mean, to not believe anything that is put out by anyone, then how can you believe anything? I mean...

ASH: Well, it's -- it...

(LAUGHTER)

ASH: It's not my -- it's not my responsibility...

COOPER: Do you believe...

(CROSSTALK)

ASH: ... to check the qualifications.

When someone comes to be on the ballot in Arizona, it's not my responsibility to check those qualifications. It's the responsibility of the secretary of state.

And, so, all we said is, if -- if it's required that you be a natural-born citizen, he should determine that. Now, you -- you argue this in terms of what's happened to Barack Obama. I'm thinking in terms of the next nominees down the road.

COOPER: But this is all about Barack Obama. I mean, this is -- this is completely partisan, no?

ASH: Well -- well, that's why I spoke up on the bill. They were -- the other side, the Democrats, were saying this is racist; it's to embarrass Barack Obama.

And I spoke up to say, this is not a matter of race. It's not a racist issue. I'm merely voting for the -- as you call it, the birthers amendment.

COOPER: So, where was George Bush born?

ASH: I have no idea where George Bush was born.

COOPER: But you -- that wasn't a concern for you when he was in office?

ASH: The issue never came up.

COOPER: What about Bill Clinton? Where was he born?

ASH: I have no idea.

COOPER: So, all of a sudden, you're concerned about where the president of the United States is born, based on calls you're getting from constituents who are misinformed?

ASH: Actually, I did not get any calls from constituents until after this bill was passed.

But I don't think there's any harm in requiring someone to demonstrate that they meet the requirements for the position. Now, nobody can deny -- regardless of what you believe about President Obama, nobody can deny that there's been a controversy. You may deny...

COOPER: Well, yes, but there's controversy about everything. People -- and there -- but there are things called facts, and you know the facts. You are a leader. You know the facts.

Isn't it your job -- when a constituent calls and says, gosh, I'm reading all this stuff on the Internet that President Obama was a -- was foreign exchange student, to say, actually, no, he wasn't?

I mean, isn't it -- that your -- part of your job?

ASH: Look, President Obama is president now. For the future, this kind of controversy should not come up again, because they will have to establish that up front. And that will avoid this kind of controversy in the future.

COOPER: To your critics who will say that you and the other Republicans -- only Republicans voted for this -- are simply pandering to a misinformed electorate, that, rather than setting the record straight yourselves, you're just pandering. You're kind of throwing up your hands and saying, gosh, I don't know, there's a lot of stuff on the Internet, a lot of it seems controversial, we need this bill, rather than saying, actually, this information is false.

ASH: Well, I think our purpose was to avoid this kind of controversy in the future. And I think that's appropriate. That's our job as leaders is to eliminate the possibility of this kind of controversy in the future.

COOPER: State Representative Cecil Ash, I appreciate your time. Thank you, sir.

ASH: Thank you very much. Bye.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

Army Lt Col to be Court Martialed for being a Birther

http://firstread.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2010/04/13/2267021.aspx

Army doctor Lt. Col. Terry Lakin believes Obama does not meet the constitutional requirements to be president and commander-in-chief, because he believes (incorrectly) that Obama wasn't born in the United States.

Lakin refused this week to report to Fort Campbell, KY for deployment to Afghanistan, but instead showed up at the Pentagon, where he was confronted by his brigade Commander Col. Gordon Roberts, a Vietnam Medal of Honor recipient.

Lakin was informed by Roberts that he would face court martial, and his Pentagon building pass and government laptop computer were seized.

This Army Lt. Col has refused a lawful order to deploy to Afghanistan because of his belief that the order is invalid since Barack Obama has not - in his view - supplied sufficient evidence of his native birth in the United States.

Crazy and insane though this may seem, this view according to recent polls seems to be shared by as many as 45% of Republicans.

I've been over this myself in exhuastive detail and this claim is total bunk.

Copy Provided by Obama

Showing the Folds.

The Raised Seal

Close Up of City of Birth

Unredacted Certification Number

Birth Announcement from Local Honolulu Paper filed by Obama's Grand Parents

As FactCheck.org has pointed out the Certification of Live Birth that Obama providing during the Presidential Campaign is perfectly legitimate, and has been validated by state officials - furthermore copies of the much vaunted "Long Form" that these people are clamoring for are not available under State Law.

Per Fact Check.

The document is a "certification of birth," also known as a short-form birth certificate. The long form is drawn up by the hospital and includes additional information such as birth weight and parents' hometowns. The short form is printed by the state and draws from a database with fewer details. The Hawaii Department of Health's birth record request form does not give the option to request a photocopy of your long-form birth certificate, but their short form has enough information to be acceptable to the State Department. We tried to ask the Hawaii DOH why they only offer the short form, among other questions, but they have not given a response.

Under Hawaii State law the Short form is sufficient to prove citizenship and for example, obtain a passport, which Obama's mother must have done when she moved the family temporarily to Indonesia.

Per Hawaiian law, Statue 338.13, any certified copies of the original document can serve the same purpose as the original document.

"(b) Copies of the contents of any certificate on file in the department, certified by the department shall be considered for all purposes the same as the original, subject to the requirements of sections 338-16, 338-17, and 338-18."

Usually the certification is stamped and signed on the lower reverse side of the document and says "I certify this is a true copy or abstract of the record on file in the Hawaii State Department of Health."

The stamp and signature on the back of Obama's certified copy is here:

Signature on the Back

This copy is certified and VALID, the requirement stated by this Lt. Col for a "Doctor signed form" is not required by the Constitution. It's completely made up.

It's rather sad that this soldier (and doctor) has chosen to throw away his career ove a phantasm, but what's even worse is that when he loses his case - and he certainly WILL lose just like Orly Taitz did - the estimated 45% of Republicans who still believe this drivel aren't likely to see the truth, they're likely to believe this man to be some kind of Constitutional Martyr, when what truly he is - is deeply misguided and foolish.

Also I continue to wonder if these people would be making this demand of a President John McCain, particularly since he himself was born in Panama and only has citizenship through his parents.

Vyan

Sarah Palin: Going Birther!

Sarah - the Self-Absorbed Quitterific Serial Fact-Mangler - Palin In response to questions and issues which very briefly surrounded the birth of her own son Trig, has now decided that that experience (which she decries as totally unfair - and it WAS) now believes it gives her license to question the birth of the 44th President of the United States.

Douche-Nozzle Much?



I hate to tear everyone away from the latest Tiger Woods Ho-Swinging News, but this just in... Four-Time College Quitter, Ex-Mayor, Energy Commission Quitter, Governor Quitter, Book Signing Quitter and Turkey Trot Quitter Sarah Palin is a Nutbag (Enabler).

A Few Points as I listen to the Interview for the first time:

Palin blasts Obama for not being enthusiastic about going over and "Killing those Terrorists" and not having a "Steel Spine" like Reagan -- Y'mean before or after Beiruit!

Palin solution to the Economy Problems - Tax Cuts Period. (This besides the fact that nearly 60% of the Stimulus WAS Tax Cuts - "for the Job creators" - Oy vey!)

She also signs on with the Tea Parties in blasting the Bail Out - even though She Supported the Bail Out when Bush put it through... not to mention her signing on fully with the "Climate Change Conspiracy Theory" - just to completely round-out her full on craziness.

The key portions comes up about 8 mins in...

From Thinkprogress:

Palin: Voters have every right to ask candidates for information if they so choose. I’ve pointed out that it was seemingly fair game during the 2008 election for many on the left to badger my doctor and lawyer for proof that Trig is in fact my child. Conspiracy-minded reporters and voters had a right to ask... which they have repeatedly. But at no point – not during the campaign, and not during recent interviews – have I asked the president to produce his birth certificate or suggested that he was not born in the United States.

HEY SARAH it's not a "Legitimate Question" because the Birth Certificate is RIGHT HERE!



Now, Logically this should END THE MATTER - unfortunately like many Dimbulb conspiracies - It doesn't.

I've been over this in exhaustive detail before - so here's a quick refresher because when we don't walk people through it all, they claim we're HIDING something... so for those who question the above here's more. (I'm quoting ME, so I gave myself permission)

Showing the Folds.


Signature on the Back


The Raised Seal


Close Up of City of Birth


Unredacted Certification Number


Birth Announcement from Local Honolulu Paper filed by Obama's Grand Parents

Now, the funny thing about this, and the thing that keeps the Birthers coming back even when you do display all the above - as Matthews, Cenk and Fact Check do - is the fact this this document really isn't Obama's Birth Certificate.

Hey, stop throwing rocks... I'm serious.

No, I'm not supporting a Conspiracy Theory on Dkos - that would be a TOS violation, I'm just saying. as Yoda would - There is Another.

This document is Obama's "Certification of Live Birth", it is essentially the "Short Form" of his certificate and most states including Hawaii have another longer form which includes details such as Birth Weight, possibly even a footprint and such to help confirm the identity of the child. (Y'know the stuff Identity Theft is made of...)

Here's what Fact Check Says about it.

The document is a "certification of birth," also known as a short-form birth certificate. The long form is drawn up by the hospital and includes additional information such as birth weight and parents' hometowns. The short form is printed by the state and draws from a database with fewer details. The Hawaii Department of Health's birth record request form does not give the option to request a photocopy of your long-form birth certificate, but their short form has enough information to be acceptable to the State Department. We tried to ask the Hawaii DOH why they only offer the short form, among other questions, but they have not given a response.

What all these Birther as clamoring for - Is the Long Form, not this one.

They argue, that they've found examples of foreign citizens who've managed to forge the short form and therefore the ability to commit such a forgery automatically de-legitimizes the form supplied by Obama. It's sort of saying that simply because someone can counterfeit a $20 Bill, every other $20 is therefore invalid.

Yeah, Right - Ok....

Neo-Birthers like Lou Dobbs claim they don't question his citizenship but that they just want to see Obama's "Long Form" - and continue to question why he doesn't show it. Let me make this simple:

A) THE LONG FORM IS NOT THE OFFICIAL FORM: It is not certified and signed by the State and recognized as Official and binding by State Authorities or the Government. You can't get a Drivers License or a Passport with the Long Form - Yet, somehow Obama has both - hmmmm...

b) HAWAII DOESN'T OFFER COPIES OF THE LONG FORM: Go back and re-read what Fact Check Found - "The Hawaii Department of Health's birth record request form does not give the option to request a photocopy of your long-form birth certificate" - so essentially they're asking for something EVEN OBAMA CAN'T GET from the State of Hawaii. A Perfect Unprovable Conspiracy: Sort of like claiming an Evil Robot from the Future has been sent to Kill Sarah Connor - only it's not the Future Yet...

c) BUT SHOULD HE STILL HAVE HIS OWN ORIGINAL COPY?: Logic dictates that his Mother would have had that, and for those of you who are completely insensitive and need this explained to you - Obama Mother DIED When he was an adolescent and his father was already dead - He's an ORPHAN YOU DOPES - so it's probably lost. All he can do is request an official copy from that state - and That's Exactly What He Did.

Lastly I have few questions for the Birthers, since they like to ask them, maybe they can answer just a couple teeny, tiny questions:

How exactly did a 17 year-old 9-month pregnant girl fly from Hawaii to Kenya, then fly back with a Newborn Baby Boy and NOBODY FRACKING NOTICED?

What did she travel steerage?

Who paid for this trip?

Did he use a passport or just a kind word and a flirty wink to cross all those borders without leaving a trace?

Is the Lock Ness Monster Real?

How Many Spaceships are they hiding at Area 51?

Why does Bigfoot's Skin always Sag around the Middle?

Who Shot J.R.?

How's OJ Gonna find the Real Killers from Prison?

And finally - WHY THE FUCK WOULD ANYONE TRAVEL 15,000 MILES ROUND TRIP Pregnant?

The insanity of it all just gets worse and worse the more you think about it.

Here's what Media Matters Has to say about it:

Lying: President Obama's birthplace and nationality have been established beyond any credible doubt -- he was born in Hawaii, in 1961, and is and always has been an American citizen. It is not a "fair question" to suggest otherwise.

Hypocrisy: What little credibility her attacks on the media had were based largely on the poor treatment she received from isolated quarters of the blogosphere regarding the birth of her son. For her to continue to complain about that while simultaneously questioning the president's birth, and suggesting that she would be justified in doing so, is hypocritical and disgusting beyond anything I thought Palin capable of. And let's not forget that when Palin's family first became an issue in the press shortly after McCain tapped her, Obama came to her defense: "I think people's families are off-limits, and people's children are especially off-limits. This shouldn't be part of our politics. It has no relevance to Gov. Palin's performance as governor or her potential performance as a vice president."

Political stupidity: If Palin does, indeed, have political ambitions, then she's doing everything she possibly can to scuttle them by embracing Birtherism. There's a reason that national-level elected Republicans don't (for the most part) wade into the Birther swamp -- because the issue is so radioactively crazy that it would be political suicide to do so. If news reports are to be believed, Lou Dobbs was dropped by CNN because he indulged his Birther curiosities. It was hardly the first crazy thing Dobbs did while at CNN, but it was that special kind of crazy that made CNN say "enough." In short, anyone who has the Birther stain is not going to be a success in the political mainstream

Yeah, what they said...

Vyan

All the Vitriol isn't (just) because Obama is Black

He's a Damn Dirty "Liberal".

Crossposted from Dailykos.

Although Ministry of Truth made a great many good points yesterday with his Kosdiary "Why don't you just get it over and call him N----", I think he's missing a much deeper point that everyone who is left of center in this nation needs to understand.

Those on the right don't Fear and Loathe President Elect Barack Obama simply because he's Black - that a negative bonus point for them - it's largely because he's Democrat and for them - as I stated back in 2006 - Liberal Bashing in the New Racism

In 2006 I said...

John Lennon once sang that "Woman is the Nigger of the World". In the last few weeks, something has become increasing clear to me. Times have indeed changed from the bad-old days of the Civil Rights movement and women's suffrage. No longer is it women who are the chief second-class citizen of this nation. It's not the gays. It's not the immigrants. It's not minorities, be they Black, Brown, Red or Yellow.

Granted, there are an increasing number of issues which affect each of them, but the one method for getting a full on smash-mouth whack at all the above - without being called nasty names, and being accused of being uncivil, impolite, or basically a Fucking Dick - is to attack just one group.

Liberals.

In Hating the "Enemy",... Namely Us. I pointed out what the usual type of attacks against Democrats from Republicans have been for some time...

# Sean Hannity suggested that the DNC may have been behind the Abu Ghraib prison abuse photos, asking: "Was that a DNC plot too?" (The Sean Hannity Show, 9/10/04)

# Laura Ingraham stated that Democratic Sens. John Kerry (MA), Joseph R. Biden Jr. (DE), and Barbara Boxer (CA) are "on the side of" North Korea leader Kim Jong Il because they were opposed to John R. Bolton's nomination as U.S. ambassador to the United Nations. (Hannity & Colmes, 4/11/05).

# Ann Coulter on Bill Clinton, "he was a very good rapist" and "molested the help" and on Al Gore, "Before we knew he was clinically insane" - "He seemed kinda gay".

# Bill O'Reilly says he doesn't do "personal attacks", except of course for when he does.

I'm not saying that the most recent vile attacks on our current President haven't been ramping things up to a entire new level of ugly and vicious - not to mention completely unjustified - but the ground work for this type of thing has been well laid for a very long time, and it's been part of the MAINSTREAM of Political discourse for that entire time.

It's only natural that with the Trifeca of a Smart/Left-of-Center, African-American, PRESIDENT would drive some people completely up the batshit crazy cave.

But just imagine if that President were a Republican like say, Colin Powell? What if it were Michael Steele? What if it were Alan Keyes (who the Repubs carpet-bagged in to challenge Obama for the Senate?) What if it were someone they find "acceptable" (and easily bribable) like Armstrong Williams?

You think we'd be seeing bone-through-the-nose cartoons about them? You realize how loudly they would bellow at Watermelon Patches on the White House Lawn, if it were a Black Conservative were President?

To this very day - they complain about how badly Clarence Thomas was treated and say his grilling was entirely Racial - then turn around in a blink and accuse Justice Sotomayor of so-called Reverse Racism. for accurately following precedent.

They'd be more than willing to tolerate the "Blackness" of those particular people and pat themselves on the back for us - at least in public - just as Laura Ingraham was able to be good "friends" with the rather Gay David Brock back when he still a part of the Right-Wing establishment before he regained his dignity and self-respect (as well as sanity) and started Media Matters.

As he wrote in his book Blinded by the Right.

...of all the conservatives I had met since coming to Washington, I grew closes to Laura. For several months after we met in November 1994, we were inseparable companions. Laura drew me out of my shell; she helped me to relax and enjoy myself among the conservatives. She was a much more prodigious networker than I was, and she was also a wicked gossip, befriending the likes of Rush Limbaugh and George Will, then repeating their often creepy confidences to me.

Even after he came out they remained close...

Laura took the place of a mate. We were out on the town virtually every night together, cohosted seveal parties and dinners at my home, and vacations in souther California with the Huffingtons. [Long before Arriana's split with her gay husband Michael and her own eventual disenchantment with the right] We shared a lot of laughs. Despite her public persona as a voice of Gingrichism, I also saw in Laura a glimmer of humanity, softness and vulnerability, buried beneath all of the role-playing. In candid moments, she confided she didn't believe much of what she was saying on the airwaves. Channeling into our politics our emotional problems [in Laura's case, the pain of a difficult childhood, and her tortured relations with men, whether married or not], we were both trapped in devices of our own making.

But then he learned the truth.

I hadn't known of Laura's antigay past at Darthmouth, where, along with her then-boyfriend Dinesh D'Souza, she had participated in the infamous outing of gay students, who were branded "sodomites," until I cringed as I read about her Dartmouth Review exploits in a 1997 profile in Vanity Fair. To make matters worse, I was quoted int the piece saying that Laura was unreservedly accepting of homosexuality, which in my presence she always had seemed to be.

We'll, you were one of the "good ones" David. Like Andrew Sullivan, acceptable for deviant ways because of your "Right" thinking. Then that changed.

The bottom line being that if Barack Obama were A Conservative - we wouldn't be seeing any of this crap. He'd be "One of the GOOD Ones" - not one of those Reparations Seeking, Angry, Socialist, Black-Nationalist, Commie, Pinko, Anti-American, White-Hating, LIBERALS! that they so fear.

It was the Liberals - like John, Robert and Teddy Kennedy - who fought against Racial Oppression during the Civil Rights movement. It was Liberals who removed blatant racial bigotry from our immigration policies. It was the Liberals who fought against the crimes of the Vietnam - and Iraq - Wars. It was the Liberals who fought for Women's Equality. It was the Liberals who fought for the protection of the Elderly. It continues to be the Liberals who fight for the Sick and the Dying.

Very often, the ones who feel the most vicious brunt of Racial Hatred aren't black people or brown people. It's those LIBERALS who dared to stand beside them, like the Freedom Riders. They called them "Race-Traitors" "N--gger Lovers!"

The same is true of those who stood with women through suffrage.

Liberals represent All of the Oppressed and Disenfranchised. The Workers. The Poor. The Gay. The Alternative Worshipper. The Dismissed. The Ignored. THE HATED!

If we think things are bad now, we should remember just how bad they used to be. Back when the person they called "Socialist" - was Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.



Barack represents for them something they fear above all other things. The potential for a resurgent and vibrant new Liberal Movement which would bring together all of these factions and forever change the power structure of this nation. Barack WILL Take "Their" (White, Christian, Straight, Right-Wing and Priviledge) America away from them, and share it with the rest of us. All of us.

Barack is a dramatic shift away the bleak, but determined, outlook I wrote about in 2006.

But Last year Rosa Parks died. This year saw the passing of Coretta Scott King. Many of the old Civil Rights Warhorses are losing their steam (Rep. John Conyers being a notable exception). The time is coming where we will need to begin the planning and actualization of a new Human Rights Movement.

A movement that focuses on spreading and protecting the basic and fully equal rights to election integrity, personal privacy, habeas corpus, trail by jury, freedom from torture, access to affordable healthcare, quality education, security, retirement protection, comprehensive sex education, preservation of reproduction rights and access to contraception along with an improved adoption and foster care system for alternative parenting options, an aggressively green energy policy, and the right to love and marry one consenting adult of your choice for all persons, regardless of race, nationality, religous persuasion, gender or gender orientation.
In short, for Freedom. But not Freedom as the Right defines it, as the "Right" to amass power and fortune unto onto oneself by taking it away from everyone else. True Freedom is not just a manifestation of personal desire, it has to be tempered with public responsibility, it is the right to do as you please, except when your actions begin to limit the freedom of others. We have to be willing to protect each others personal freedom as carefully as we protect our own, or none of us will be free.

This New Freedom Movement will need to fight as relentlessly as does the Reich-Wing, if not nearly as underhandedly.

We need to embrace who we are. We are the Fags. We are the Niggers. (Yes, dammit I'm saying it - and I'm Black!) We are the Dykes, the Kikes, the Goyim, the Gaijin, the Rag-heads, the Geeks, the Freaks, Weirdos, Nutballs, and Moon-bats. We are also the bold, whom fortune will ultimately favor. The meek who will inherit the Earth.

We're coming for our rights, and we're not stopping until we have them -- all of them. It won't be easy, it's going to be painful, difficult, dangerous, frustrating and thankless - but worth it.

Are you with me?

Now in 2009 I ask again but with renewed vigor, we are coming for our Rights - we won't get them easily or all at once. If not today, then tomorrow. If not tomorrow then the next day - if not then, the day after that, but we WILL have them. All of them.

Are you with me?

And are we with Barack?

It's not just Barack they're truly afraid of, it's all the rest of us.

Vyan


Updated For those who've stated that Ideological Bigotry is somehow lesser than Racial Bigotry either in intensity or Danger : Watch these.

Couple Arrested for wearing Anti-Bush T-Shirts.



2008 RNC Protestors charged with "Terrorism"


During the Bush Era people with Anti-Bush or Anti-Iraq Bumper Stickers on their cars were targeted, harassed and excluded from even being involved in Presidential Town Halls. Now people bring AR-15's to them.

Vyan

Have we Forgotten Who We're Dealing With?

Just a few thoughts...

It's been pointed out time and time again, that some people in this nation - are simply Impervious to Fact. Unwilling and unable to accept a simple truth.

There are NO DEATH PANELS.

Barack Obama was born in Hawaii.

He Never "Palled Around" with a Domestic Terrorist.

No one is planning to "Take your guns away" (Although for some of these guys, that might be a real good idea)!


It's just well past the point of the patently ridiculous, and we all have to come to grips with it. Some members of our country are pathologically deluded.

And what's worse, is they like it that way.

Yes, a lot of this comes from Fox News non-stop pandering Fear and Loathing.

Some of it comes from Right-Wing Radio.

But a lot of it, comes right from the frightened fevered imaginations of otherwise regular citizens like your neighbors, or your cousins, or your brother.

They want to be on the Right side, the good side - they just aren't.

They want you to see their copy of the U.S.S. Constitution!

Right here. I got a book here called the U.S.S. Constitution. I’m sure everybody’s seen this before. And you know what? I’ve this book three times now, and I’ve referenced it dozens of times and I can’t find one little paragraph in here that says the government has the right to take over our health care.

They desperately cling to an America that never existed. Where the rugged achieved and they were no handouts (except for the tens of thousands of acres of free land the Government provided to thousands of settlers in the 19th Century - or the GI Bill after World War II - or... well, you get the picture)

They don't know what happened to Their America.

And they won't be reasoned with. They won't be bargained down to some mutually equitable compromise. Not on Health Care. Not on Guns. Not on Torture. Not on the Environment. Nothing.

Just yesterday the Arizona AR-15 Toter wished Death on the President and preferred that it come "Sooner rather than Later".

This is not some rhetorical flourish - this is a Death Threat.

The guns have already started firing, at the Holocaust Museum, in Pittsburgh at the Police, at Dr. George Tiller and more...

We've already had the "Lone Wolves", now comes the Organized Attacks.

These people will not be talked down.

As the August Recess comes to an end we need to remind our Representatives that we're counting on them to deliver the Change we Need. Come Hell. Come High Water. Come Hot Lead or Cold Steel.

Edward M. Kennedy is gone.

We no longer have his shoulders to stand on to help lift is up, when we're down.

Our time is now.

Let's get on with it.

Vyan

Baggers, Birthers and Deathers Losing it over Snitch-Gate!

Ok, just like a bunch of schoolyard bullies who curl up in a ball and scream for Mama!!! as soon as you question or challenge them the Health-Care Mobs are now screaming FOUL because the White House has asked people to - Gasp - PAY ATTENTION!

A leading Republican US Senator on Wednesday sharply assailed a White House request for supporters to help track “fishy” claims about President Barack Obama’s plans to overhaul US health care.

”I am not aware of any precedent for a president asking American citizens to report their fellow citizens to the White House for pure political speech that is deemed ?fishy? or otherwise inimical to the White House?s political interests,” John Cornyn of Texas wrote US President Barack Obama.

God, the Nerve, the President wants to know what are the latest Right Wing Lies to derail Health Care Reform? What was he thinking?
Maybe what he was thinking is that being fore-warned is being fore-armed, that knowledge is the primary path to power and effectiveness, and the truth is stronger than fiction?

I've been taking a peak at Faux News this morning with Cavuto and Beck and their are practically Livid that their fellow Americans might be telling the White House what they're saying.

Despite all the hysteria, this is what the White House actually said.

Opponents of health insurance reform may find the truth a little inconvenient, but as our second president famously said, "facts are stubborn things."

Scary chain emails and videos are starting to percolate on the internet, breathlessly claiming, for example, to "uncover" the truth about the President’s health insurance reform positions.

In this video, Linda Douglass, the communications director for the White House’s Health Reform Office, addresses one example that makes it look like the President intends to "eliminate" private coverage, when the reality couldn’t be further from the truth.



For the record, the President has consistently said that if you like your insurance plan, your doctor, or both, you will be able to keep them. He has even proposed eight consumer protections relating specifically to the health insurance industry.

There is a lot of disinformation about health insurance reform out there, spanning from control of personal finances to end of life care. These rumors often travel just below the surface via chain emails or through casual conversation. Since we can’t keep track of all of them here at the White House, we’re asking for your help. If you get an email or see something on the web about health insurance reform that seems fishy, send it to flag@whitehouse.gov.

So let me get this straight, the people who said when it was revealed that President Bush was illegally surveiling The Entire Country, with special attention to spying on journalists are now Outraged - OUTRAGED that President Obama has an email address for tracking false propaganda?

You guys should be happy he's not just telling the NSA to take it rout out of your Email Mailbox the way that Bush did. Besides if you've done and said nothing wrong, "why should you be worried about it" - isn't that what everyone (at Fox) said about Bush's Spy program?

"Only the Bad Guys Should be Worried?"

I guess we can see who the bad guys are now pretty clearly.

They want to pretend that Obama's plan - which is really Congresses Plan at this point - is a "Government Takeover" when Single Payer is Off the Table and that it's just a secret plot to Euthanisze the Elderly and that these are "legitimate concerns by Average Americans".

They are not.



I'm not so ridiculous as to proclaim that some of these people aren't sincere, because being sincerely misinformed is not a crime. But more than few of them really are being driven by Right-Wing Lobbyist Groups such as Dick Armey's Freedom Works who pushed the "Tea Parties" and now have an Action Plan to Stop Socialized Medicine.

But you see the real problem is that Liberals are just so Mean!



Beck and his ilk are already saying this is just like "community organizing" by Acorn - except it's not legitimate community organizing to accomplish positive goals, it's the deliberate exploitation of false fears to create an angry uninformed mob to INTIMIDATE congress by criminal corporations who want to protect their profits and stock price at the expense of American Lives.

Sorry but just like some of the Tea Partiers really were Racist, some of these people are propelled by completely INSANE fears of "Socialism".

No, not all of them are "Crazy" - but some of them are.

And if they don't like being called "Crazy" - then they should STOP ACTING LIKE IT! If they don't want to be connected with crazy people and ideas they should stop supporting nutty ideas.

To this they respond that the Administration is "Marginalizing Them".

Well, if their concerns were close to "Legitimate" they wouldn't be Marginalized. Single Payer is not on the table. Euthanasia is not on the table. You can't have a rational conversation with someone screaming the equivelent of Bigfoot and and Roswell conspiracies at you. All the real data shows that America spends twice as much on Private Health care as most countries and gets about half the quality for it. Our most effective delivery systems are the VA and Tricare - both are government run.

UN Ranks of Public vs Private Health Care Costs as percentage of GDP

HDI Rank	Expenditure on health (% of GDP)	Public	Private	Combined
12	United States	6.9	8.5	15.4
106	Occupied Palestinian Territories	7.8	5.2	13
164	Malawi	9.6	3.3	12.9
88	Lebanon	3.2	8.4	11.6
7	Switzerland	6.7	4.8	11.5
123	Sao Tome and Principe	9.9	1.6	11.5
150	Timor-Leste	8.8	2.4	11.2
22	Germany	8.2	2.4	10.6
10	France	8.2	2.3	10.5
15	Austria	7.8	2.5	10.3
1	Iceland	8.3	1.6	9.9
4	Canada	6.8	3	9.8
29	Portugal	7	2.8	9.8
86	Jordan	4.7	5.1	9.8
2	Norway	8.1	1.6	9.7
17	Belgium	6.9	2.8	9.7
3	Australia	6.5	3.1	9.6
38	Argentina	4.3	5.3	9.6
9	Netherlands	5.7	3.5	9.2
34	Malta	7	2.2	9.2
6	Sweden	7.7	1.4	9.1
70	Brazil	4.8	4	8.8
20	Italy	6.5	2.2	8.7
23	Israel	6.1	2.6	8.7
27	Slovenia	6.6	2.1	8.7
14	Denmark	7.1	1.5	8.6
121	South Africa	3.5	5.1	8.6
19	New Zealand	6.5	1.9	8.4
66	Bosnia and Herzegovina	4.1	4.2	8.3
46	Uruguay	3.6	4.6	8.2
110	Nicaragua	3.9	4.3	8.2
13	Spain	5.7	2.4	8.1
16	United Kingdom	7	1.1	8.1

France and Canada pay a fraction of what we do for Health Care and have far better outcomes, England pays half - literally HALF - what we pay and nearly equals our results. It should be a source of national shame and disgrace.

We simply can not afford to continue being gouged for Health Care at this rate by Private Companies. They're DROWNING THE NATION in Red ink. We simply can't afford to keep doing what we have been.

What do these people who just love these corporations have to say the families of people like Eric De La Cruz and Nataline Sarkisyan after their care was Rationed by Private Insurance accelerating their untimely deaths?

GLENDALE, Calif. - The family of a 17-year-old girl who died hours after her health insurer reversed a decision and said it would pay for a liver transplant plans to sue the company, their attorney said Friday.

Nataline Sarkisyan died Thursday at about 6 p.m. at the University of California, Los Angeles Medical Center. She had been in a vegetative state for weeks, said her mother, Hilda.

Attorney Mark Geragos said he plans to ask the district attorney to press murder or manslaughter charges against Cigna HealthCare in the case. The insurer "maliciously killed her" because it did not want to bear the expense of her transplant and aftercare, Geragos said.

What do they say to the other 18,000 people this happens to per year while the Health Care Industries continue to Rank in 3 of the Top Ten Slots for profitable companies on the Fortune 500?

1	Network and Other Communications Equipment	28.8%
2	Mining, Crude-Oil Production	23.8%
3	Pharmaceuticals	15.8%
4	Medical Products and Equipment	15.2%
5	Oil and Gas Equipment, Services	13.7%
6	Commercial Banks	12.6%
7	Railroads	12.4%
8	Entertainment	12.4%
9	Insurance: Life, Health (stock)	10.6%
10	Household and Personal Products	10.2%

How could a Public Option NOT cost less and be more efficient than this?

A Private Option might have saved Eric and Nataline at least for a while longer - no one lives forever - but it would have dipped into the profit of these companies. Which do you think should be our most important issue? Profit or Life?

We need the courage for a paradigm shift forward, not fear mongering to hold us back.

I don't think that's too much to ask.

Vyan

Birther Lawyer Orly Taitz has Total Meldown on MSNBC

In response to the release of the Horrifically Fake version of the Obama's "Kenyan" Birth Certificate David Shuster and Tamaron Hall invited Orly Taitz on MSNBC to discuss the issue.

It wasn't long before logic, reason and decorum went flying out the window.

This is the current "Leader" of the Birther Movement? THIS!?

There's just so much wrong here it's hard to keep track. Her first false claim is that one of Obama relatives placed the birth Anouncment in the papers, based on a certificate that was created by simply filling out a form.

Except that some member of the Family didn't place the announcments, the State authorities in Hawaii did.

We have one more thing. We talked to reporter Will Hoover, who wrote a well-researched story for the Honolulu Advertiser on Nov. 9, 2008, about Obama's childhood years in the the Aloha State. It ran under the headline "Obama Slept Here."

In researching the story, he went to the microfilm archives and found the birth announcement for Obama. Actually, he found two of them, one in his Honululu Advertiser on Aug. 13 , 1961, and in the Honolulu Star-Bulletin the next day . They both said the same thing: "Mr. and Mrs. Barack H. Obama, 6085 Kalanianaole Highway, son, Aug. 4."

But here's the thing. Newspaper officials he checked with confirmed those notices came from the state Department of Health.

"That's not the kind of stuff a family member calls in and says, 'Hey, can you put this in?'" Hoover explained.

So that theory is Bunk

Then in the midst of spouting jibberish and whining that Tamaron and David keep asking her follow-up question in the midst of her projectile bile spew - she claims that Obama can't be a natural-born citizen unless Both of his parents were Americans.

Huh?!!

This is something she repeated on the Colbert Report.

Colbert: What would he have to do to satisfy you and those in your movement?
Taitz: In order to be president and commander in chief, he has to be a natural born citizen. So even if he were born in Hawaii, he cannot be the president and commander in chief specifically because of his multiple citizenship.
Colbert: So there’s absolutely nothing he can do to satisfy you?
Taitz: Unless he can bring his father out of the grave and make him a citizen post-mortem.

That's just flat-out Wrong.

Anyone born on U.S. soil is a U.S. Citizen and the one thing NONE of the Birthers have successfully provided any evidence that Stanley Ann Dunham ever left U.s. Soil in order to give birth to Barack Hussein Obama Jr on foreign soil.

That's because IT DIDN'T FRACKIN HAPPEN!

As noted by SkeeterVT when discussing the Orly supplied "Kenyan" document.

An examination of the photos reveal several inconsistencies in the alleged Kenyan birth certificate. They do not show the signatures of either the president's white, Kansas-born mother, Ann Dunham or of his black, Kenyan-born father, Barack Obama, Sr. Nor do they show any signatures by the registrar or by the attending physicians. Kenya was under British rule in 1961. Under British law, birth certificates are not legally valid without such signatures.

Other discrepancies in the alleged Kenyan birth certificate include listing Obama's mother under his father's surname -- when, in fact, Dunham legally kept her maiden name throughout her marriage. And it lists Dunham's age as 16, when, in fact, she was 18 when she gave birth to the future president.

The lower-left-hand corner of the alleged document refers to the "Republic of Kenya." But Kenya did not gain its independence from Britain until 1963 -- when the young Barack was two years old.

Most importantly, Dunham never set foot on Kenyan soil -- In fact, the president's mother did not leave the United States until 1967, when she moved to Indonesia to live with her second husband, Lolo Seotoro (She divorced the senior Obama in 1964 after she learned that he was married to another woman in Kenya).

Then there's the fact that she has the unmitigated GALL to accuse people who support Obama as being equivilent to Street Thugs who supported the Nazi's - while she's sitting in Tel Aviv. Simply Stunning.

This is what happens when the Overton Window pulls you completely over the cliff. Radical far out of the mainstream views have become the Republican Stock-in-trade, people like Ann Coulter have specifically and deliberatly cultivated the Super-Crazy as part of reasonable discourse, to them Liberals are "Traitors" and "God Less" - and they've managed to succeed far beyond even their own wildest dreams when people can so easily believe that the Health Care Plan will "Kill the Elderly". How much further is it to go to "Obama is an Illegal Alien" as G. Gordan Liddy did on Hardball? As has been shown by the recent DKOS poll (Birther Mostly Southern, Overwhelmingly Republican), this isn't just the "fringe" of the Republican Party - it's their Lunatic Base!

If this is the way the the Grand Ole' Party finally shuffles off the mortal coil to join the Bull Moose and Whig party, all I can say is that it frankly can't happen soon enough.

Vyan

Bill O'Reilly Defies the Republican Lunatic Base and Debunks the Birthers!

Yeah, amazing though it may seem - sometimes Bill O'Reilly really is as much a "straight shooter" as he pretends to be an actually dares to Defy the Lunatic Base of the Republican Party - therefore he really should get credit for it.



Birth Announcements in Newspaper in 1961? Check. Statements by Head of Hawaii Health Department? Check. Meanwhile Lou Dobbs is trying to start a fight with Rachel Maddow because he says "He's a Birther..." Dobbs says "She Lies, I believe Obama is an American - But I still want to see the documentation"



What the Frack do you call that then? Birth-Lite!?

Tomorrow Dobbs is supposed to be appearing on O'Reilly - that should be like a visit to Opposite World.

Vyan

Born in the U.S.A! - Taking Down the Birthers Piece by Piece

Crossposte from Dailkos

Ok, this Birther - Barack is a Foreigner - stuff has jus plain gotten completely out of hand, now that 10 members of the house have actually proposed legislation to compell any future Presidential Candidates to prove that they are a natural citizen, as if their opponents wouldn't jump up and down all over any such allegations if they were legitimate?



If you have had, as I have, or expect to have an argument with a "Birther" - particularly since this has clearly moved from mere "conspiracy Theory" to an issue of potential legislation being driving by Repubs - IMO you need to read this diary.

Just to back Matthews up a bit here's a video from Cenk at Young Turks that goes much further into tearing this issue apart by using FactCheck.org to analyze Obama's documentation in detail.



As Cenk shows Factcheck goes through each and eery claim that the presented documentation is not authentic using the following close up pics to make his point.

Copy Provided by Obama


Showing the Folds.


Signature on the Back


The Raised Seal


Close Up of City of Birth


Unredacted Certification Number


Birth Announcement from Local Honolulu Paper filed by Obama's Grand Parents

Now, the funny thing about this, and the thing that keeps the Birthers coming back even when you do display all the above - as Matthews, Cenk and Fact Check do - is the fact this this document really isn't Obama's Birth Certificate.

Hey, stop throwing rocks... I'm serious.

No, I'm not supporting a Conspiracy Theory on Dkos - that would be a TOS violation, I'm just saying. as Yoda would - There is Another.

This document is Obama's "Certification of Live Birth", it is essentially the "Short Form" of his certificate and most states including Hawaii have another longer form which includes details such as Birth Weight, possibly even a footprint and such to help confirm the identity of the child. (Y'know the stuff that Identity Theft is made of...?)

Here's what Fact Check Says about it.

The document is a "certification of birth," also known as a short-form birth certificate. The long form is drawn up by the hospital and includes additional information such as birth weight and parents' hometowns. The short form is printed by the state and draws from a database with fewer details. The Hawaii Department of Health's birth record request form does not give the option to request a photocopy of your long-form birth certificate, but their short form has enough information to be acceptable to the State Department. We tried to ask the Hawaii DOH why they only offer the short form, among other questions, but they have not given a response.

What all these Birther as clamoring for - Is the Long Form, not this one.

They argue, that they've found examples of foreign citizens who've managed to forge the short form and therefore the ability to commit such a forgery automatically de-legitimizes the form supplied by Obama. It's sort of saying that simply because someone can counterfeit a $20 Bill, every other $20 is therefore invalid.

Yeah, Right - Ok....

The problem that they have, and the answer to FactChecks unanswered question about the Long Form, is that the Short Form is all that All You Need to Prove Citizenship Under the Law

Per Hawaiian law, Statue 338.13, any certified copies of the original document can serve the same purpose as the original document.

"(b) Copies of the contents of any certificate on file in the department, certified by the department shall be considered for all purposes the same as the original, subject to the requirements of sections 338-16, 338-17, and 338-18."

Usually the certification is stamped and signed on the lower reverse side of the document and says "I certify this is a true copy or abstract of the record on file in the Hawaii State Department of Health."

Still, the Birthers demand access to the Long Form - however Hawaii State Law restricts access to the long form only to those with a tangible interest in obtaining it. Since the short form is legally valid, there is no "tangible interest" for those outside the Obama family, period.

But still they don't stop clamoring.

One of the issues that I felt trumped all of his was the issue that trumped this argument for George Romney who was born in Mexico and John McCain who was born in Panama. In both of these cases these candidates are still citizens because of the citizenship of their parents, so I figured So was Obama because of his American Born Mother - but as it turns out I was wrong.

* If you were born before November 14, 1986, you are a citizen if your U.S. citizen parent lived in the United States for at least 10 years and 5 of those years in the United States were after your citizen parent's 14th birthday.

This essentially says that prior to 1986, the U.S. Citizen Parent would have to be at least 19 years old in order for that citizenship to be automatically conferred onto their children who were born overseas. Barack's mother Ann Dunham-Obama was only 18 Years Old on August 14 4th, 1961 when he was born. This means that her citizenship IS NOT automatically conferred onto him.

Yeah, I thought Alan Keyes sounded like a complete lunatic when he made this statement but he's actually correct, he's just wrong about everything else.

The other thing that continues to drive the Birthers are Videos such as the following which includes a an interview with Baracks's Grandmother in Kenya.



She says "Barack is a Son of this Village" and this is shown captioned by the original BBC Report, however the edits added to this video attempt to claim that there is a Different translation of her statement and what she's "Really" saying is "Barack was Born in this Village".

Beyond the fact that this video disagrees with itself this claim exposes the absolutely weakest part of the entire Birther argument. In Order for Barack Hussein Obama Jr. to have been Born Anywhere - it had to be where is MOTHER was located

Is there any evidence, a passport, a visa, State Department or Airline Records that indicate that Ann Dunham-Obama left the United States just prior to August 4th, 1961? In order for these people to be correct an 18 year-old 9 month pregnant girl made an approx 15,000 Mile trip from Hawaii to Nyang’oma Kogelo, Kenya - did it without leaving a trace - and arrived back home making the 15,000 return trip with her infant son and arriving before the beginning of her next semester of College in September.

Are you Fracking Kidding Me?

Beyond the Short Form/Long Form issue, beyond the Parental/Age Citizenship problem, and the interpretion/translation of comments which may or may not have been made by his Grandmother there is STILL the physical realities of the situation.

Supposedly somebody snuck this girl out of the U.S., then snuck her back in again - to an ISLAND 3000 Miles out into the Pacific - faked a birth certification, faked a birth announcement, did it without leaving a paper trail or money trail and managed to fool everyone in Hawaii, the Clinton Campaign and the McCain Campaign without making a mistake?

I mean, geez, if that's the kind of thing Barack Obama Jr. is capable of - don't you think it's better having someone like that on our side?

I mean, y'now, if you're just plain NUTS that is...

Vyan