Dispatches from Birtherstan - 14 April 2011

In today's dispatches, some of the inmates at the Pest and eFail seem to think "United States" means "united except for that unamerican Hawaii, can we throw them out of the club?" The head of the RNC isn't a birther, but doesn't want to offend the insane part of his base. Papers in Phoenix poke fun at that state's birther bill. Donald Trump has a "great relationship" with "blacks", even though he finds their support of Obama "scary".

World Nut Daily is worried the undead marmoset bearer is going off script, while their lack of things like "ethics" and "honesty" and "sanity" are called into question. And A 12 year old girl shows more honesty and knowledge of the Constitution than most birthers seem to have.

13 April - Don't you just love the patriots at the Pest and eFail?

"Bob Porrazzo says:
Wednesday, April 13, 2011 at 5:32 AM
Folks, if I may inject something here…Hawaii shouldn’t even be the 50th state…
http://whatreallyhappened.com/WRHARTICLES/HAWAII/hawaii.html?q=HAWAII/hawaii.html"

"Harry H says:
Wednesday, April 13, 2011 at 11:55 AM
I agree with Bob Porrazzo’s comment that Hawaii should never have been made a state, and I support independence for Hawaii. Don’t know the technicalities involved in rescinding statehood, but Hawaii is not united to America by geography or culture and should be set free. It can take its fraudulent favorite son with it."

You know, there are 1,102 sailors within USS Arizona, 54 sailors in USS Utah, and 34,000 veterans that rest in Punchbowl National Memorial Cemetery. Why don't you ask them how "American" Hawaii is??

13 April - The head of the RNC makes his opinion of the birtherstani clear.

"Newly-installed Republican National Committee Chairman Reince Priebus has a message for so-called "birthers": Shut up!

Priebus, who's starting to score some fundraising and organizational victories inside GOP HQ, having taken over for controversial former Chairman Michael Steele, says the debate over President Obama's birthplace and whether he can be president is a huge distraction away from the party's effort to fight Democratic spending and tax plans.

In an interview, we asked if he is a birther. "I'm not," says Priebus. "I believe that the president was born in Hawaii."

"I think that the entire issue gets me off track to what I really need to focus on which is how to beat him [Obama]," says Priebus. "

To be fair, the article doesn't say he told them to "shut up", but it's also obvious he doesn't have much use for them either.

13 April - The Phoenix New Times snarks at some of the documentation the Arizona birther bill will also accept.

"They don't call Arizona the "meth lab of Democracy" for nothing -- where else could a lack of foreskin prove citizenship?

The Arizona Senate formally passed the "Birther Bill" today, but not in its original version.

Apparently, requiring presidential candidates to provide a long-form birth certificate before allowing their names on the ballot in Arizona -- despite it already being a federal requirement to run for president -- was a bit too much for a few GOP lawmakers. So they made some amendments: if you can't find your birth certificate, and you have a penis, a document describing your lack foreskin will suffice.

A circumcision certificate -- a document given to the parents of a male Jewish child after his foreskin is snipped off during a circumcision ceremony -- is not a legal document (see an example of one here) but if you have one, under the amended bill, it's apparently enough to prove you're a U.S. citizen and your name can be permitted on the ballot in Arizona."

14 April - Ben Smith at Politico has some interesting tidbits about Donald Trump.

"Donald Trump was asked just now on Fred Dicker's radio show about African-American support for President Obama.

"I have a great relationship with the blacks," he said,"

That's nice, but what about the question?

"..continuing to call the overwhelming black support for President Obama "frightening."

O RLY??

And more about the ties with World Nut Daily:

"My colleague Kendra Marr reports that WorldNetDaily's birth certificate aficionado Joseph Farah has been on the phone with Donald Trump every day this week.

"We've have been speaking quite a bit,” he said.

Farah is enthused that the mainstream media is finally listening. “"It's irresistible theater, but he's actually winning support,"” he said.

WorldNetDaily first reached out to Trump as soon as he started publicaly talking about the conspiracy, offering to give him a birther primer and answer any questions about the topic. “"His people were very quick to respond,"” he said."

Though it seems World Nut Daily is a bit worried Trump is going off script.

"Farah has advised Trump to simply ask, “"Where is the birth certificate?"” The Donald's recent claim that Obama’s grandma in Kenya is on record saying he was born in Kenya is just troublesome, Farah said.

"When you start making assertions and ‘grandma said,’” you start getting yourself in a bind," Farah said. "I'm not sure that's what grandma said. That’s fuzzy.""

14 April - Salon takes on World Nut Daily.

"The best part of Farah's commentary is when he argues that Elliott is wrong and WND's reporter is right because of their respective bios. While Elliott has merely written for various places, WND's reporter was in the Army and is "one of the most remarkable young women I have ever met." Take that, Justin: Joseph Farah doesn't think you're remarkable!"

Is that the best World Nut Daily can do??

"This investigation was written by Aaron Klein, who is WND's Jerusalem Bureau Chief. Oh, and: "With research by Brenda J. Elliott." It took two people, one of them a foreign correspondent, to Google Justin. Just like how it took two people to edit Barack Obama's Wikipedia page to include birther conspiracy theories and then write a story accusing Wikipedia of bias after people removed those edits, which is something Mr. Klein and a "researcher" did in 2009."

World Nut Daily makes stuff up. They even admit to it.

"Anyway, their lawyer was Larry Klayman, who is not allowed to appear before courts in much of the United States because of his "total disregard for the judicial process.""

Sounds about their speed alright.

"Thanks to that substantial audience of the nation's stupidest and most fearful elderly people, WND is actually an influential member in good standing of the conservative movement; the RNC rents its massive email list. Because of that usefulness to the party, Farah and his buddies are allowed to persist in the delusion that they are sane and perhaps even respectable. But everyone knows they're frauds and crackpots. It takes five minutes of reading that bottomless repository of feverish bullshit to figure that out."

Pretty much so, yes. It's rather obvious to anyone without a political or ideological ax to grind that the concept of "facts" or "journalistic ethics" are foreign concepts at World Nut Daily.

14 April - The New York Observer covers more about Trump's "great relationship"

"The show's host, Fred Dicker — who is also the New York Post's state editor, read a recent poll showing Obama's sky-high support among African-Americans.

Trump said the numbers were troubling and pointed to Hillary Clinton as proof that he probably won't get the kind of support among African-Americans that he deserves.

"I tell it like it is," Trump said. "[Y]ou'll hear a political reporter go on and say it had nothing to do with race. But how come she had such a tiny piece of the vote? And you know, it's a very sad thing.

"I have a great relationship with the blacks. I've always had a great relationship with the blacks. But unfortunately, it seems that, you know, the numbers you cite are very, very frightening numbers."

Wow. Kinda racist assuming African-Americans would only vote for Obama because of his skin colour.....

"Dicker said, somewhat rhetorically, that votes should always be based on merit, not on race.

"If that were the case, why did Hillary Clinton do so poorly?" Turmp asked."

Because more voters thought Barack Obama would do a better job than Hillary Clinton?

"Oh, and Trump also stood by his claims that Obama has not produced adequate information about being born in the United States

"There's something going on," Trump said. "He either has one [a birth certificate] and there's something on it that he doesn't like, or he doesn't have one."

How about "he has one and you're just making stuff up and repeating long-debunked lies?"

"When told that the Washington Post fact-checked many of his claims on this issue and found them to be inaccurate, Trump held his ground.

He said the paper should have called him for side of the story."

Trump doesn't seem to understand it's not a "their side and his side" thing. It's "facts" vs "falsehoods", and Trump is spewing falsehoods.

14 April - Thanks to Obama Conspiracy Theories for finding this 3 April 2011 video showing that both a (retired) Supreme Court Justice and a 12 year old are smarter, and know more about the Constitution than most birthers.

14 April - Salon also comments on Trump's "great relationship".

"Appearing on a radio show hosted by the New York Post's Fred Dicker this morning, Trump took on the "frightening" level of support that President Obama enjoys from black voters, bragged that "I've always had a great relationship with the blacks," and saluted Hillary Clinton -- whose 2008 campaign against Obama was dogged by occasional suggestions that it was catering to racial and cultural resentments -- for all the work she's done for "the black population."

We can argue about whether this might hurt Trump -- both in terms of his fake presidential campaign's prospects and the reputation of the Trump brand. Right now, it's unclear how much -- if any -- pickup it will even receive."

14 April - The head of the RNC tries to do damage control as not to alienate their birtherstani base.

"So Reince Priebus is not a birther. But that doesn't mean he wants them to shut up! He just doesn't want to talk about birtherism because, you know, it's not what he's about.

Even seemingly sensible Republicans are terrified of offending birthers. So prominent Republican officials must treat the whole stupid conspiracy theory as a personal choice, to be respected. When you criticize birtherism, you must only criticize it as "a distraction" instead of "complete bullshit.""

14 April - Don't hold back Limbaugh, tell us what you really think of Obama's supporters.

""His base is made up of people even more vile than he is," he said. "You've got...a lot of it is just walking human debris on the Democrat base side." He noted that many on the left have been unhappy with Obama.

"That bunch of people, those savages that make up the Obama base, are fit to be tied," he said. He had to get them back, and the one way to do it was to go out and savage us. That's what they love. That's what they get off on. That's their orgasm. 'Cause these people can't find willing mates.""

Issues much??

Comments

[Bob Stanley]

Donald Trump's shtick

A noun, a verb and a reference to race

is already tired.

[Peter Beckman]

If Hawaii isn't legally a state, then Texas isn't either. Both were annexed by joint resolution of Congress after annexation Treaties failed in the Senate.

[Fred]

Hawaii was important enough to go to war with Japan over and it wasn't even technically a state back then.....lol! Now....SUDDENLY they want to question if it even is a state......those whacky birthers are too funny!

[The Magic M]

> So prominent Republican officials must treat the whole stupid conspiracy theory as a personal choice, to be respected.

Just like they did with Creationism. It's really a sad sad state the GOP is in.

When politicians fear their voters so much they don't dare tell them the truth upfront, it goes only downhill from there.

> You know, there are 1,102 sailors within USS Arizona, 54 sailors in USS Utah, and 34,000 veterans that rest in Punchbowl National Memorial Cemetery. Why don't you ask them how "American" Hawaii is??

I suppose the *living* Hawaiian veterans and active soldiers would have a thing or two to tell these treasonous birthers as well.

[pbrim]

You know, if "Hawaii is not united to America by geography", neither is Alaska. Does that mean that Palin isn't eligible for the presidency either?

[Kupuna in Hawaii]

All those flag waving patriots used to send us the love every December 7th, but now they want us to reinstate the Hawaiian monarchy? They were all rooting for us when Ben Affleck & Josh Harnett were shooting down Japanese planes, but now those sailors who died in the USS Arizona mean nothing to them?

[Patrick McKinnion]

Kupuna in Hawaii - We're dealing with people who a) have never set foot off the mainland and b) have a deep seated hatred towards Hawai'i for daring to act like they're just like every other state.

Of course, I remember going to the office at Hickam AFB where my dad worked while stationed there, and seeing the pockmarks on the wall from 7 December 1941. Funny how that sticks in your head.

And I can't see how growing up on Oahu was any different for me than most American kids. I rode my bike, explored, watched saturday morning cartoons and the like. Sure, I watched Checkers and Pogo on weekdays (not to mention episodes of Kikada with subtitles), but still, was that so very different?

I don't think so. But some of these idiots are so filled with hatred towards anything to do with Obama that they're willing to dismiss an entire state because they dared confirm that yes, Obama was born and raised there. Go figure.

[Kupuna in Hawaii]

"Funny how that sticks in your head." Great point Pat. Until 9/11/01, the civilians in Hawaii were the only Americans who knew what it was like to be under enemy fire.

Like you said, Go figgah, brah.