In todays overview of the birtherstani, Paraclete and Pidgeon get a "no" from the courts, the Nashville Tea Bag Convention seems to have quite the infestation of birthers, and Jack Cashill comes up even an even weirder theory about Obama's parents. CEL3 decides to maybe run for Senate and waxes lyrical about his time with Dr. Orly.
The Fantasy Tiddlywinks League announces their undying love and support for self-hating racist James Manning, Dr. Orly stamps her little feet that the media is actually reporting the truth about her, Paraclete blames the courts again, and Nathan Deal keeps playing footsie with the birthers. Zampolit Charlton shows once again he's dumber than a sack of reject rocks, and two fronts in the birther civil war are shot down in the courts.
5 February - Paraclete and Featherrat, Shysters at Law, have a decision in their Chrysler Quo Warranto case.
(Scribd link here)
"For the reasons set forth in the Court’s Opinion Denying Rejected Dealers’ Motion for
Reconsideration of the June 9, 1009 Order and the June 19, 2009 Rejection Opinion, the Reconsideration Motion should be denied in its entirety, therefore, it is hereby
Ordered, that the Movants’ request for reconsideration, pursuant to Rule 60(b)(1), is
denied as untimely; and it is further
Ordered, that, because the Movants’ allegations do not rise to the level of “fraud on the
court,” the Movants’ request for reconsideration, pursuant to Rule 60(d)(3), is denied; and it is further
Ordered, that the additional relief sought by the Movants in the Reconsideration Motion
is denied.
Dated: New York, New York
February 5, 2010
s/Arthur J. Gonzalez
CHIEF UNITED STATES BANKRUPTCY JUDGE"
And another one bites the dust.
6 February - At Politics Daily, an interesting observation on the Nashville Tea Bag Convention.
"A funny thing about the break-out session "How to Involve the Youth in the Conservative Movement" – not too many young people showed up. Mishelle Perkins, a 44-year-old mother of five children, worries about the paucity of young people at local meetings. The Rutherford County, Tennessee activist came Friday to get some tips. Jordan Marks, executive director of the conservative Young Americans for Freedom, suggested that activists use Facebook, volunteer to speak at high schools ("bastions of liberalism") and simply do fun stuff that hooks high school and college-age kids. Marks described a bowling party he organized – "Knock Down the Pinheads of Communism." A strike equaled Mao, a spare, Pol Pot. Perkins said she supplements her children's education with books by Tea Party authors, but right now it's hard to get them too interested."
6 February - At the big Tea Bag convention in Nashville, World Nut Daily's editor Joseph Farah did a speech that was basically pimping WND's birther madness for a full quarter of it's length. Politics today had this to say:
"Joseph Farah, editor of the conservative Website WorldNetDaily, opened his speech at the Tea Party convention in Nashville with jokes and questions about President Barack Obama's U.S. citizenship. To loud approval from the crowd, Farah said his dream is that if Obama seeks re-election in 2012, he won't be able to go to any city in America without seeing signs that ask, "Where's the birth certificate?" The fact that the rest of the media has declared the issue settled is proof, he said, that it's not."
That's because the rest of the media isn't lying though their teeth about this issue, ignoring reality and the facts, and trying to sell birther-related crap to the gullible.
Andrew Brietbart was less than thrilled by it.
“It’s self-indulgent, it’s narcissistic, it’s a losing issue,” Breitbart told Schilling. “It’s a losing situation. If you don’t have the frigging evidence — raising the question? You can do that to Republicans all day long. You have to disprove that you’re a racist! Forcing them to disprove something is a nightmare.”
“Wouldn’t you say,” asked Schilling, “in this case, that Farah is asking Obama to prove something rather than his disprove it?”
Breitbart rejected the premise. “When has a president ever been asked to prove his citizenship?”
Mind you, Breitbart has bloggers like former SNL actress turned airhead fundie Victoria Jackson, who's out there turning birther tricks, so I think he's being a bit hypocritical there.
6 February - Little Green Footballs also covers the birtherism at the tea bag convention.
"There are reports that the Tea Party Convention organizers are planning a press conference today to denounce Birtherism, after Joseph Farah’s speech last night.
It seems a little late to start worrying about it, the day after the keynote speaker unleashed a full-on paranoid Birther rant to a cheering audience and a standing ovation.
And it’s not as if anyone can claim they didn’t know what Farah was going to talk about — World Net Daily is wingnut kook central, with a permanent section of the front page devoted to the latest crackpot Birther fantasies.
But some people want us to think they didn’t see it coming; for example, Andrew Breitbart."
6 February - And Hot Air adds in their three cents.
"I know Dave a little from a few meetings at events that he’s covered, and whether or not he’s “socialist” — I’d say center-left having read his work, but usually very fair — it didn’t make any difference to whom Breitbart spoke. If Breitbart was rebutting Farah’s argument, then Farah needs to address the argument, not question Breitbart’s motives in choosing Dave, which isn’t what Breitbart did. He was challenging the birth-certificate issue to Farah’s own WND reporter, and Farah leaped to an incorrect conclusion.
Moreover, Breitbart is entirely correct, and perhaps even understated the case. In the earlier exchange with Schilling, she said that her boss was asking Obama to prove something rather than disprove Birtherism, to which Breitbart responded, “When has a president ever been asked to prove his citizenship?” But in fact, Obama did do just that when he released the Certification of Live Birth in June 2008, in response to an entirely different question. That may have been the first time a Presidential candidate has ever done so, and the COLB is a document that could get Obama a passport, a driver’s license, and a Social Security number. It’s all the legal proof required. If that wasn’t enough, Obama’s political opponents found contemporaneous records of his birth in the Honolulu Advertiser from August 1961.
The wins in Virginia, New Jersey, and Massachusetts over the last three months did not come from people questioning Obama’s birthplace. They resulted from grassroots opposition to the Obama-Nancy Pelosi policy agenda. Scott Brown won the seat held by the Kennedys and their cronies for almost 60 years by pushing back hard against ObamaCare and the counterterrorism policies of the White House. If anything, the continued focus on Birtherism at these rallies undercuts the mainstream nature of the opposition to the Democratic agenda and allows the media to paint it as a paranoid mob obsessed with conspiracy theories. Not only is it not a winning issue, it will hang like an albatross around the necks of conservatives who tacitly or expressly link themselves to it."
6 February - More right-wing backlash to Farah's birther speech, this time from RedState.
"I was profoundly disappointed to hear Joseph Farah of World Net Daily hijack the convention and try to treat the birther issue as legitimate. The birther issue is not legitimate. There is no lingering constitutional issue. There never was.
Yesterday, I spent a lot of time talking about the meaning of the tea party movement and voter angst. Once Farah opened his claptrap, every question was about the birther movement. Way to go.
And that goes to a larger issue with this particular convention. With few expections, among them Sarah Palin, the featured speakers were virtual unknowns or, like Farah, increasingly on the fringe."
7 February - Well, lookie which well known nitrous-huffing attention whore was at the Tea Bag Convention.
7 February - From "Selfish Mom", a video of Dr. Orly at the Tea Bag Convention.
"I caught up with professional nutjob Orly Taitz over the weekend at the National Tea Party Convention in Nashville. She was being her usual self, which is always entertaining (if a little bit scary)."
In a nutshell, Dr. Orly makes another prediction, which is, fearing a "watergate" type situation, the Democratic party will ask President Obama to step down before the next presidential election, to "help the party".
The difference is that Nixon broke the law, and Obama hasn't done anything wrong. Except that whole "Presidenting while black" thing that seems to have Dr. Orly and the majority of birthers screaming with impotent rage.
7 February - AJStrata of "The Strata-Sphere", who was one of the few far-right blogs in 2008 to publically refute the "Cult of the COLB" as the birthers were called then, also adds his opinion to the Nashville Tea Bag convention.
"When the Tea Parties were non political gatherings of Americans challenging the deficit spending, deficit in tax cuts and deficit in respecting the judgement and goodness of Americans to do the right thing I was a big fan. But as the movement gained followers, it also attracted the same political wannabes who have tried to turn it into a ‘true ‘conservative’ movement. Which has destroyed the movement’s attraction with independents and centrists."
BINGO! Got it in one! It's no longer a grassroots non-partisan movement, it's pretty much owned by the wackadoodle fringe of the GOP.
"When you have Birthers given center stage to promote absurd conspiracy theories based on ignorance of law and technical issues you have gone way out of the mainstream. When you have nativist Tom Tancredo as a major speaker you have sunk beyond the fringes."
Pretty much, yes.
"The Tea Party had a chance to allow center-left, center-right and as much of the far right who could stomach the center of America to come together in a modern Reaganesque coalition to oppose the liberal madness gripping DC. That opportunity is now gone:"
Indeed it is. So who is going to step up to the plate and build a group that includes moderates, liberals, conservatives, progressives, libertarians, and everyone who is worried about the changes to this country, the rise of the corporations, and the destruction of the middle class and industrial base in this country??
Because the tea baggers can't anymore.
7 February - Every so often, the birthers come up with a theory that is so out there or so badly written that you're just trying to figure out what the hell they're talking about.
So it goes with "Another Look at Obama's Origins", as published in "American Thinker" by Jack Cashill. Because it starts out pretty outrageous.
"Wilkie offers a novel interpretation of "Pop." Says Wilkie, "I think the poem zeros in on that poignant moment when Obama was told that his grandfather was in reality his father."
Wilkie concedes his theory is "off-the-wall," but he also offers photographic evidence to show that Obama much more closely resembles Dunham -- especially by the telltale ears -- than he does Barack Obama, Sr.
Intriguing as the theory is, I thought it would be easy to disprove. I was wrong. For starters, in his 1995 memoir Dreams From My Father, Obama refers to his grandfather not as "Pop," but as "Gramps." If he were writing about his grandfather in this poem, the title "Pop" may very well be suggestive of a more direct kinship."
As near as I can figure out, the writer seems to be implying that Obama's grandfather is really Obama's father. Of course, there's that little problem that Stanley Dunham was white....
Then it goes into:
"In any scenario, Obama had at least one black parent, and if it is not Obama Sr., who then is it? Obama offers a possible clue in Dreams:
I was intrigued by old Frank, with his books and whiskey breath and the hint of hard-earned knowledge behind the hooded eyes. The visits to his house always left me feeling vaguely uncomfortable, though, as if I were witnessing some complicated, unspoken transaction between the two men, a transaction I couldn't fully understand. The same thing I felt whenever Gramps took me downtown to one of his favorite bars, in Honolulu's red-light district.
The "Frank" in question is Frank Marshall Davis, a black communist, pornographer, and poet who had abandoned Chicago for Hawaii. In "Pop," it should be noted, the Pop character "recites an old poem" just before the reconciliation and reeks of whiskey. Davis would have been in his mid-seventies at the time. Some have theorized that Davis, in fact, is Obama's father and the "Pop" of the poem. This theory, though tenuous, cannot be ruled out. A grandson can look more like his maternal grandfather than his father. That happens. And then, too, there is Davis's Chicago connection."
So here we have the Andy Martin theory that Obama's father is Frank Marshall Davis. So where does Stanley Dunham figure into it?
"The "Frank" passage and the ones that follow, however, tell us something suggestive about Stanley Dunham, namely that he frequented otherwise all-black bars in an area rife with prostitution. That a black woman -- perhaps a friend of Davis's -- gave birth to a child of Dunham's may explain "the complicated, unspoken transaction between the two men." If this were the case, it would have caused far less societal stress for Ann Dunham to assume maternity of her little brother than for Stanley Dunham to assume paternity of his son. "
*blink* I'd love to know what kind of sugar frosted crack flakes the writer is smoking to think that a married white man in the early 60's fathering a child with a black woman would somehow be MORE socially unacceptable than an unmarried (or married six months previously) young white woman having a half-black child.
So as near as I can figure out, the writer is either:
1) Suggesting Stanley Dunham fathered Obama on either his daughter or a black woman.
2) Suggesting Stanley Ann Dunham got pregnant as a teenager, forcing a move to Hawaii.
3) Suggesting Frank Marshall Davis either is Obama's father or was covering for Stanley Dunham.
4) Suggesting various combinations of the above.
5) Drinking sterno like it's water.
I'm betting on #5 myself.
7 February - It's two, two, wingnut dirtbags in one! As Off-shore jobs Bob Campbell of the Fantasy Tiddlywinks League announces their alliance with self-hating racist James Manning!!
"American Grand Jury has been in existence for one year now. We have convened 16 Grand Juries and served countless Presentments upon the courts and politicians."
All of whch has been ignored completely or dismissed as without credibility.
"Not a single judge has been willing to refute our credibility."
That might be news to Judge Royce Lamberth. Or every other court that rejected your nuttery as not coming from a real grand jury.
"Dr. Manning is an American Patriot with unquestioned spirit, drive and ability. We are marveled by his daily energy and commitment to awaken this Country and expose the evils within our society. One such evil is Barack Obama. At risk of life, career, family and followers Dr. Manning has directed a relentless campaign to expose Obama for the treasonous fraud that he is. When you look at Dr. Manning, you look a real man that lays it all on the line."
Wow. Sounds like Campbell has a serious man crush on Manning. Didn't know Campbell was wanting some hot Harlem lovin'.
"We at American Grand Jury are proud and honored to help Dr. Manning in any way we can. His goals are our goals. His visions are our visions."
"...his delusions are our delusions. His batshit insanity is our batshit insanity. His self-loathing racism is our racism. His lies and threats are our lies and threats. His treason is our treason".
Yeah, it's a pretty serious crush alright.
"Forthcoming within the next few days will be details of just how American Grand Jury will be involved. We will be a part of the “Columbia Trial” organized and directed by Dr. Manning. We will take marching orders from his organization. If he asks us to jump, our response will be, “how high?”
Wow! Get a room you two!! Wonder if they have a china pattern picked out and there the registry is.
8 February - Fresh from the Tea Bag convention. Dr. Orly takes another hit of that sweet sweet nitrous and pens this piece of insanity on her malware-infested site (malware and redirect warning):
"That’s it. I am so outraged by the outrageous lies and slander coming from Pro-Obama media thugs, that if this does not stop immediately, I will file a criminal complaint against a number of reporters, demanding criminal prosecution for hate crimes."
Translation: "How DARE these people report the TRUTH about me!!!"
And hate crimes?? Since when did "birther" become protected??
"Lately reporters like Tery Krepel, Keith Olbermann, Rachel Maddow, Chris Mathews and a few other reporters, as well as editors of their papers and executives of their networks have gone even further. It is beyond journalistic malpractice and defamation of character. They are so full of vitreous, of hatred against me for having the courage to seek the truth and seek release of all of Obama’s vital records, that these individuals went much further Their complete lies, slander, misrepresentation of facts, verbal assaults, insults and tremendous emotional distress and anguish they brought on me, have qualified their acts as a Hate Crime, which can be punished by a prison term. "
Again, "Wahhh!! They're telling the truth about me!!"
I rather hope she tries to sue them. I'd like to see those lawyers eat her for lunch.
"This has to stop now. They have to publish a retraction and an appology."
They don't have to do jackshit, particularly when they have the facts and reality on their side.
"They have to give me an opportunity to provide truthful information"
They have, and you have yet to provide any truthful information at all.
"and a rebuttle and they have to provide truthful reporting."
There used to be something that might have applied to this. It was called the "Fairness Doctrine" Though I don't think it applied to insane conspiracy theories.
"Additionally, I believe that actions by Judge Land in GA were so outrageous, that those actions qualify as a hate crime against me."
*Blink* So calling you on your poor courtroom behaviour is a "hate crime" now?? You really are insane, aren't you??
8 February - Then there's this letter from a Cavity Creep. (Malware and redirect warning)
"Posted on | February 8, 2010 |
Good morning Orly,
Yesterday, Sarah Palin made it public that she would like to run for President in 2012. If the election was held today, with Obama’s magic fading so fast, she would stand a good chance of unseating him. Sarah is also the current leading GOP name for a Presidential candidate, a good position for her eventual nomination. Your name, and your argument about Obama’s real birth certificate, are becoming well known. It occurs to me that with your intelligence, ability, and dedication (and not to forget your appearance) … you being connected with Palin could be powerful for her and for you. It further comes to mind that you would make a great campaign manager for her. I presume the connection can be made through many of your higher level supporters. At least I would like you to know that I am with you on this.
Regards,
Miles Sterling"
Oh YES!! Let Dr. Orly become the campaign manager for Sarah Palin. It would be comedy GOLD!!
8 February - Donofrio addresses the rejection of the Quo Warranto case. And uses the usual birther excuse - blame the judges.
"Understand that this battle is as important a fight as this nation will ever see. It will define whether we are going to allow the judicial branch to openly lie to our faces. If no court will overturn Gonzalez here, it’s the end of truth, justice and the American way forever. This judicial fraud will become the template for a new tomorrow where your children will have no protection of law."
8 February - And at the fake examiner, birther sockpuppet Dianna Cotter parrots the party line on Paraclete and Featherrat's most recent failure.
"The Dealers will be appealing this decision made by Judge Gonzalez in what appears to be a case of Judicial Fraud. Anderer’s attorneys will appeal to the Southern District of New York and will be filing multiple complaints with the New York Bar association, asking for sanctions against Old Chrysler’s attorneys the Law Firm of Jones Day, and Judge Gonzalez.
Judicial activism is a violation of civil rights. Because of the power that the court can wield, the damage that it can do can be of monumental proportions, which is why this fraud from Judge Gonzalez is so egregious. An estimated 40,000 people lost their jobs and 789 Franchise dealers lost their businesses. Some of those dealers had been in business from the founding days of Chrysler in the 1920’s, generational businesses that had shown decades of loyalty to Chrysler.
Judge Gonzalez’ intentional decision not to correct the error of footnote 21 shows a wanton disregard for the truth and his mandated role as an impartial observer of the facts. The dealer restructuring made no material difference to Fiat. Why would it? Fiat got Chrysler for free."
So basically the birther party line seems to be to ignore the law and procedures the judge cited, and scream "fraud" at the top of their lungs.
Typical birther behaviour.
8 February - Carl Swensson of the Fantasy Tiddlywinks League talks to Rep. Nathan Deal (R- Georgia 9th congressional district). And it seems that Deal is still flirting with the birthers.
8 February - The love affair between the Fantasy Tiddlywinks League continues, with this doozy.
"Now, new evidence has come to light whereby Dr. James Manning has declared that Obama never attended Columbia University [New York].
Dr. Manning has hired a team of investigators to comb over every bit of available evidence to validate his declaration.
Manning’s investigators conclusively state that:
1) Columbia University will not divulge whether the “alleged” diploma issued was in the name of Barry Soetoro or Barack Hussein Obama. No public record exists regarding the diploma.2) Obama alleges he attended Columbia in 1982, 1983. But, the investigators have been UNABLE to turn up a single shred of written documentation for the years 1981, 1982, 1983, 1984 that show where Obama appeared on a school roster, register, faculty memo, bulletin board, school awards, dean’s list; where Obama’s name appeared in a yearbook, club record, fraternity record, extra curricular activity member roster, student newspaper, student radio or tv activity; where Obama appeared in any records as a worker, employee, laborer in or about Columbia University; where Obama enrolled in any sports activity or program.
3) As a graduating senior in 1983 he does not appear in any Political Science (his major) or Granduating Class yearbook or invitation records.
4) There is absolutely no documentation of any kind to show Obama attended, lived, worked or played at Columbia University during the investigated 4 years.
5) Interviewed professors, college employees, students (who were at Columbia during the years in question) have failed to turn up a single person that can remember Obama. This is irrefutable evidence. Think about your own situation if Obama had attended your college? A “now-famous” person went to your school? Many would be able to say, “of course I remember.” At Columbia, not a single person has been able to say he or she remembers Obama.
On number one, there's that whole pesky "privacy law" thing, as shown here.
As for #2 though 5, let's see:
Interview with Obama's roommate, from Columbia College Today, Jan/Feb 2009.
New York Times, 30 October 2007 article on Obama
New York Sun article, 2 September 2008
"Federal law limits the information that Columbia can release about Mr. Obama's time there. A spokesman for the university, Brian Connolly, confirmed that Mr. Obama spent two years at Columbia College and graduated in 1983 with a major in political science. He did not receive honors, Mr. Connolly said, though specific information on his grades is sealed. A program from the 1983 graduation ceremony lists him as a graduate."
There's also an article on the Columbia College wiki.
Columbia College Today, Jan 2005
So I don't know what "investigators" Manning used, but it's curious that I was able to find a lot of information to disprove this claim quickly. Unless, which is likely, Manning is lying yet again.
8 February - Well it looks like disbarred felon Charles Lincoln and convicted forger Lucas Smith may have realized they don't technically qualify to run for Governor and Lt. Governor of California. But CEL3 rises to the occasion, stating he won't run for Governor, but might run for Senate instead:
"But in any event, it does seem that although I am constitutionally disqualified for running for California Governor because I have not resided there continuously for five years, I AM eligible to run for and yes, even to serve as a United States Senator.
If I were to run, I know I would stand little or no chance of winning. I will not be able to raise millions in campaign funds, or at least I cannot see how I would or even could, and California is the most populous state in the Union.
Yet on the other hand, I might be a good candidate. Californians pride themselves on being trendsetters for the nation, always ahead and iconoclastic, at the same time as they set up the icons that everyone else follows. California is ethnically diverse and I’m rather distinctively WASPY, but I was confirmed at All Saints Church in Beverly Hills, which is a good place to be a certified WASP if ever there was one. I’m also a WASP who speaks Spanish fluently, having lived and worked on and off in Mexico, Honduras, Belize, Colombia, Puerto Rico, and elsewhere in Latin America on and off for the 15 years I was involved in archaeology (1976-1991). And even in my “fall” from establishmentarian grace I think I might have something real to offer Californians: California has the highest prison population in the United States, one of the highest incarceration rates in the world (per capita/population wide) and it has to stop."
I'd say the chances are pretty much nil, no way, not a chance, and you've got to be kidding.
"The degree to which I’ve been abused, attacked, and generally “jabbed” on a half-dozen various lefty-comsymp websites during the past year has hardened my resolve—this Country, and California in particular, is run by socialists. "
Wow. "comsymp" isn't a phrase I've seen outside of really old John Birch propaganda.
He does wax lyrical about his lost lover:
"On the one hand, if I run for public office, I will suffer much more of the same kind of garbage slander and attacks that I have experienced since first becoming involved with a certain Moldavan-born, Israeli-educated, Orange County Dentist named Dr. Orly Taitz, D.D.S., Esquire."
You mean "the truth"??
"I wish I had never met her, except that I never would have come to live since September 2009 by the beach in San Clemente if it hadn’t been for her, and San Clemente, California is one of the most beautiful and satisfying places on earth—and God only knows I’ve lived and traveled all over the United States, the Americas, and Europe and the adjacent the Mediterranean areas of Asia and Africa. The only other possible advantage of having met Dr. Taitz last year is that perhaps I had my little retarded “sex scandal” episode before I was running for office, rather than after or during the process….."
*LAUGH!!!*
9 February - Zampolit Charlton at The Pest and eFail is once again showing that in his universe, two plus two equals grapefruit. How else can one explain this weirdness?
"The Post & Email cannot positively confirm tonight that Janice S. Okubo has resigned from her position as Communications Director for the Hawaii Department of Health, but indications given from the Department of Health staff seem to indicate that her resignation has been decided and that it will shortly be announced."
And what evidence does he have to make this claim??
"This inference is based on the fact that Okubo, unlike her usual practice, is no longer answering UIPA requests, but instead, these responses are being sent out of an anonymous Department of Health information address."
In other words, the Hawaiian Department of Health, tired of answering demands from people who wouldn't believe the truth if it gnawed on their pasty white buttocks, are now simply using a remailer to prevent harassment of their employees. Which doesn't stop Charlton from fishing futher.
"In an attempt to ascertain whether this interpretation is correct, I called Rita A. Hoopii-Hall of the Hawaii Department of Health’s Human Resource Office and asked her point-blank: “I am calling to confirm or deny the rumor that Janice Okubo has resigned from her position as Communications Director for the Department of Health. Can you tell me if she has resigned?” To which Mrs. Hoopii-Hall replied: “I can neither confirm or deny such a rumor.” To which I replied, “If it were not true, you would simply deny the rumor, wouldn’t you?” To which she replied, “From where I am I cannot do so, without going to another office and asking them. I can say this much: If and when such a resignation is made, I would be sent a copy of the letter of resignation; and I can confirm that I have not received such.”"
What part of "no" is he not getting??? And after a page of meaningless spew, he ends with:
"Finally, it must be emphasized that the resignation of Okubo at this point is nothing more than an unconfirmed rumor."
Which didn't stop your diarrhea of the keyboard from rambling on for a page, did it??
And lookie who's in comments:
"P. Barnett says:
Wednesday, February 10, 2010 at 12:41 AM
I strongly encourage Ms. Okubo to go visit a trust worthy U.S. Attorney and work out a plea bargain for herself and spill the beans on the Usurper. She should also get protection for her and her family."
Pam Barnett should get a better grade of anti-psychotics.
9 February - Newsweek covers the Tea Bag Convention.
"But the 18th-century getups mask something disturbing. After I spent the weekend at the Tea Party National Convention in Nashville, Tenn., it has become clear to me that the movement is dominated by people whose vision of the government is conspiratorial and dangerously detached from reality. It's more John Birch than John Adams.
Like all populists, tea partiers are suspicious of power and influence, and anyone who wields them. Their villain list includes the big banks; bailed-out corporations; James Cameron, whose Avatar is seen as a veiled denunciation of the U.S. military; Republican Party institutional figures they feel ignored by, such as chairman Michael Steele; colleges and universities (the more prestigious, the more evil); TheWashington Post; Anderson Cooper; and even FOX News pundits, such as Bill O'Reilly, who have heaped scorn on the tea-party movement's more militant oddballs.
One of the most bizarre moments of the recent tea-party convention came when blogger Andrew Breitbart delivered a particularly vicious fulmination against the mainstream media, prompting everyone to get up, turn toward the media section at the back of the conference room, and scream, "USA! USA! USA!" But the tea partiers' well-documented obsession with President Obama has hardly been diffused by their knack for finding new enemies."
Wow. Shades of 1984 and the three-minute hate.
"And then, of course, there is the double-whopper of all anti-Obama conspiracy theories, the "birther" claim that America's president might actually be an illegal alien who's constitutionally ineligible to occupy the White House. This point was made by birther extraordinaire and Christian warrior Joseph Farah, who told the crowd the circumstances of Obama's birth were more mysterious than those of Jesus Christ. (Apparently comparing Obama to a messiah is only blasphemous if you're doing so in a complimentary vein.) To applause, he declared, "My dream is that if Barack Obama seeks reelection in 2012 that he won't be able to go to any city, any city, any town in America without seeing signs that ask, 'Where's the birth certificate?'"
Many of the tea-party organizers I spoke with at this conference described the event as a critical step in their ascendancy to the status of mainstream political movement. Yet with rare exceptions, such as blogger Breitbart, who was reportedly overheard protesting Farah's birther propaganda, none of them seems to realize how off-putting the toxic fantasies being spewed from the podium were."
Because they live in an echo chamber where dissent is ruthlessly purged. Look how many of the birther and tea bagger blogs practice a level of censorship that would make Stalin proud.
"The tea partiers' tricornered hat is supposed to be a symbol of patriotism and constitutional first principles. But when you take a closer look, all you find is a helmet made of tin foil."
Indeed it is.
9 February - In the Liberi v Taitz birther civil war, the US Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit has a decision in the following motions:
(Scribd link here)
"1) Motion by Appellants to Expedite Ruling or to File a Restraining;
2) Request by Appellants for Judicial Notice;
3) Request by Appellants for Judicial Notice;
4) Request by Appellants for Judicial Notice;
5) Request by Appellants for Judicial Notice;
6) Request by Appellants for Judicial Notice;
7) Emergency Motion by Appellants to Expedite this Interlocutory Appeal and to Expedite a Ruling on Appellants Pending Motion for an Emergency Temporary Restraining Order and/or Injunction;
8) Response by Appellee, Orly Taitz, to Motion to Expedite and Motion Requesting Sanctions;
9) Request by Appellants for Judicial Notice;
10) Reply by Appellants to Appellee’s Response to Motion to Expedite and Response to Motion Requesting Sanctions;
11) Request by Appellants for Judicial Notice;
12) Request by Appellants for Judicial Notice."
And that decision?
"O R D E R
The foregoing motions are hereby DENIED.
By the Court,
/s/ Theodore A. McKee
Circuit Judge"
9 February - In the Rivernider v. US Bank front of the birther civil war, an order from the judge in the Berg/Lincoln v Taitz skirmish.
(Scribd link here)
(Bold face mine)
"III. FINDINGS OF FACT AND CONCLUSIONS OF LAW
Based on a review of the pleadings and the testimony at the evidentiary hearing, the undersigned finds that Dr. Taitz had agreed in principle to represent plaintiff Lincoln in various legal proceedings involving real estate. Dr. Taitz filed the initial Motion to Substitute Counsel on behalf of all three plaintiffs in the instant case. No later than November 4, 2009, Dr. Taitz informed plaintiff Lincoln that their professional and personal relationships were at an end, and that she would not be representing him in the instant case."
No more trysts in the Dental Chair o' Luv.......
"The undersigned further finds that plaintiff Lincoln prepared, signed and filed the First Amended Motion to Substitute Counsel. Instead of signing his own name “for” Dr. Taitz, Lincoln utilized an approximation of Dr. Taitz’ signature. The pleading was filed in haste in order to meet the Court’s deadline, and at a time when the professional and personal relationship between Dr. Taitz and plaintiff Lincoln was in turmoil."
Well, that's one way to say it.
"The undersigned finds that at the time the First Amended Motion to Substitute Counsel was filed, plaintiff Lincoln correctly or incorrectly believed he was authorized to prepare, sign and file the pleading on behalf of Dr. Taitz. Additionally, the undersigned finds that plaintiff Lincoln did not prepare, sign and file this pleading in an attempt to perpetrate a fraud on this Court. Finally, the undersigned finds that the Riverniders played no part in the events which resulted in the instant controversy."
Here's an odd question. If Lincoln, a disbarred attorney in the State of Florida, was acting as a "legal clerk" for Orly Taitz, who isn't a member of the Florida Bar and wasn't pro se in this case, isn't that, oh, I dunno, practice of law on Lincoln's side??
"With the Supreme Court’s caution in mind, the undersigned concludes that the imposition of sanctions against any of the plaintiffs is not warranted. However, the undersigned is not convinced that Dr. Taitz acted in bad faith in her communication with the Court, and there is not a sufficient basis to impose sanctions against her."
Note the wording. "not convinced" is different from "did not". I am not a lawyer or a judge, but the whole order seems like the judge gave the benefit of the doubt to Lincoln, and didn't really buy into Dr. Orly's claims, but didn't find enough credible evidence to ding her on those claims either. And ended up going "a pox on both their houses."
"Therefore, being duly advised, it is hereby ORDERED and ADJUDGED that no sanctions will be imposed by the Court on the plaintiffs or Dr. Taitz, and the parties and witnesses shall pay their own attorney’s fees."
Translation: GET YOUR BIRTHER BULLSHIT OUT OF MY COURTROOM!!!!!
9 February - CEL3 spins the court decision on the Riverneider case.
"Dr. Orly Taitz’ undistinguished (disgraceful, dishonest, and extremely informal and undignified) attack on her former “greatest admirer” Charles Edward Lincoln resulted in Fort Lauderdale a January 12 hearing attended by several witnesses, several lawyers including top-notch Philadelphia attorney Philip J. Berg for Lincoln"
An insanity singularity.
"and an audience of two (possibly homeless but definitely unemployed) paid bloggers."
Ignoring the rather childish jab there, if they were paid bloggers, they wouldn't be unemployed by definition. And it's quite likely they had homes too.
Ah, logic, such a fleeting thing in the birther mind.
"After the hearing, Lisa Ostella produced an affidavit on Lincoln’s behalf which basically demolished both of the two shreds of credibility that Orly Taitz had ever had in her life."
She had ANY credibility?? At all?? Ever?? News to me.
10 February - Look at Zampolit Charlton's latest "scoop". He's publishing the 1981 Hawaiian birth certificate of one Alan Paliko Booth.
"Miki Booth, a native Hawaiian and candidate for the U.S. House of Representatives for the State of Oklahoma, shocked and awed Obama supporters during the recent Tea Party Nation convention in Memphis, TN, when she publicly disclosed the Certificate of Live Birth for her son, Alan Paliko Booth, born on Nov. 24, 1981, at 7:55 AM, at Kapiolani Children’s Medical Center, the same hospital that Obama has claimed to be his own place of birth,nearly 20 years before."
Native Hawaiian?? Interesting, the COLB shown gives the race of the mother was "Caucasian/Japanese". Not Native Hawaiian. But that's not the only bit of fail here.
"The now widely recognized, crude forgery which Obama claims to be his own Certification of Live Birth bearing the date of 2007 but without the seal and confirmatory signature of the State Registrar, does not contain information regarding the race of the child or the date accepted."
For starters, the only people claiming forgery are the birthers, and the State of Hawaii has confirmed it. However, there's an easy way to test this theory. Have Alan Paliko Booth request a current copy of his birth certificate from the State of Hawaii. See which version comes back to him.
"Because the actual form might indicate:
1) Race of Child: Negro or White — in the former case, Obama’s racism might take offense; in the latter case his race politics might be undone;"
There's no "race of child" shown on the above COLB.
3) Parents might not be who they are claimed to be — there has been a lot of speculation on that;
Yeah, by birthers pulling shit out of their ass, and absolutely nobody credible.
"5) No father might have been indicated originally, because Obama’s mother might not have been sure who the father was at the precise moment of the original filing — which would reflect badly on his mother’s morals and cast doubt upon any evidentiary value of whomever was subsequently claimed to be the real father; because doubt in such cases is prima facie evidence that there was more than one man who could have been the father."
They do like to attack Obama's mother. Partly because they're low-life scum, and partly because, in many of the birthers eyes, she's a "race traitor".
10 February - Here's something interesting. A 18 August 2008 YouTube of a 5/6 May 2008 Fox News "Inside Edition" story on the Indonesian School Obama attended.
School officials said it was customary for students to be enrolled by their father's name and religion. In this case, stepfather.
Note, there's still no evidence of an adoption, a nationality card for children, or that school attendance was restricted to Indonesian citizens only. Despite the birther claims to the contrary.
10 February - The Fantasy Tiddlywinks League continues to give their new boytoy, James Manning, a reach-around, with this open letter to their party faithful.
"It is rare that an organization like American Grand Jury is given the opportunity to make a real impact on society. "
Because you're a bunch of right-wing cranks and conspiracy nutters??
"On May 14th, the Atlah Ministries in Harlem, New York will sponsor an event that can literally change history. Dr. James David Manning has proposed that “we the people” put Columbia University on trial for conspiring to defraud America. Dr. Manning has made the charge that Columbia University issued a degree to Obama when in fact he never attended such college. The ramifications of this matter are overwhelming. If proven true, the fact that Obama conspired with Columbia to manufacture a fraudulent past would be labeled as “the crime of the century.”
*Yawn* Another "crime of the century".
Though I will note something. When the Fantasy Tiddlywinks League started, I said that their next step after the real legal system rejected their claims would be the creation of a fake "court" and fake "trials" to further their case.
This is EXACTLY what I said would happen. Since they can't get real courts to listen to them or take them seriously, they now have a fantasy court to play in.
"Dr. Manning has invited American Grand Jury to participate in the trial. Our role would be that of an observer, investigative reporter and ultimately a presenter of charges."
In other words, the same old tired lies.
"1) We will be in New York for the trial. Personally, as leader of American Grand Jury, I will make the trip in May. We will take with us a number of jury members. Who would like to join me in New York?"
Aren't real juries supposed to be taken from a random assortment of people in that community?? Oh, right, you're NOT a real jury......
"2) In New York we will conduct a “live” Grand Jury in addition to the Trial being held by Dr. Manning. Specifically, that means we will not interfere with the Trial but only observe, record evidence and assemble at the end of each day to discuss, argue and decide upon the evidence in a private Grand Jury setting. We will not vote on our Presentments until the Columbia Trial is concluded."
The words "kangaroo court" come to mind.
"3) Additionally, American Grand Jury will conduct an “online” Grand Jury in conjunction with the “live” hearing. In order to effect this we will “stream” the audio portion of the New York hearing to all of our registered jury members in a private password protected website. The number of members that can participate in the “online” Grand Jury can be in the hundreds. Registration for the “live” and “online” Grand Jury hearings can be taken now. Please contact me if you are willing to serve."
They're not even pretending to follow jury rules and procedures anymore, are they??
"When Obama is out of office we can take a much-needed rest. Until that happens, we are running the servers 24-hours a day to accomplish our mission."
Well you have until 2013 at the earliest to wait. Though it's more likely that you can take that rest in 2017.
"Ira Says:
February 10th, 2010 at 8:28 am
Can you locate a retired Judge to convene the sessions and make it official? Columbia and Obama made a big, big mistake much like former President Richard M. Nixon."
While there might be a retired judge out there stupid enough to play their reindeer games, it still wouldn't be a legitimate trial. But that's okay, because absolutely nothing the Fantasy Tiddlywinks League OR James Manning have ever come up with has the slightest about of legitimacy to it.
10 February - The Washington Independent provides a transcript of the Swensson / Deal interview.
"I’m not questioning his legitimacy to serve as president. I would think he’d like to clear that up in as unequivocal a fashion as possible. And that’s simply all I’m asking."
Wow. There's a whole lotta bullshit in that statement.
Love this site, just wish it was updated daily.
Posted by: milspec | February 10, 2010 at 02:40 PM
Thanks as always, Patrick.
I think the whole birther thing is going to be one of the key issues that prevents the Tea Party folks from ever truly becoming a "broader" movement and will probably help lead to their eventual undoing.
Orly and her fellow birther leader clowns have become nothing but soap opera parody now. They have neutered themselves
The whole Fantasy Grand Jury / Rev Manning thing just floors me - like these fools could even make themselves look more foolish going after Columbia, when the proof and evidence of Obama's time there is so easy to find!
All I can guess is that they must want to take the EPIC FAIL title away from the PUMA kitties. LOL!
Posted by: G | February 10, 2010 at 03:06 PM
"I don't know what "investigators" Manning used, but it's curious that I was able to find a lot of information to disprove this claim quickly"
to paraphrase sinclair lewis: it is difficult to get a man to investigate something when his meal ticket depends upon his not investigating it ...
Posted by: aarrgghh | February 11, 2010 at 12:06 AM
Milspec - That's an interesting question - should I continue with the every few days readers digest condensed version, or go to day by day updates.
The problem is that Oh My Goodness does a good job at the day by day updates. Still, let me think on it. Anyone have any preferences on this subject?
Posted by: Patrick McKinnion | February 11, 2010 at 08:12 AM
Patrick - I'd like a daily update, but you don't want to just echo Oh, For Goodness Sake. I think what you do is great, and I'll still read you however often you decide to update.
Posted by: Jody | February 11, 2010 at 08:59 AM
I don't think you have to worry about your frequency competing or infringing on Oh For Goodness Sake. That blog reads with the flavor of a novel and yours reads with the flavor of a political cartoon.
I would still read both.
Posted by: Virtual Denizen | February 11, 2010 at 11:14 AM
Patrick - I read both and try to check both daily.
I like the format of your compilations and don't want to see them go away, but I'm definitely open to having more frequent "mini-updates, provided it meets your time schedule to do so.
Posted by: G | February 11, 2010 at 02:00 PM