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Dispatches from Birtherstan - 29 November 2011

Normally I would have waited until tomorrow, but today was such an interesting one I thought I'd go ahead and post it now.

The first is a new Congressional Research Service report that does a very good job at slicing, dicing, and making julianne fries of many birtherstani legal "arguments". Including pinning the de Vattelists to a wall. It's unlikely they'll do anything but ignore it, but it should give some ammo to judges, Secretaries of States, and ballot board officials in shooting down some birther nonsense.

We have video of Holy Cao in the wild. New Hampshire once again tells Dr. Orly "No", though her next stop seems to be Georgia and Hawaii. We have a new birther lawsuit by someone who claims not to be a birther, but seems to be well acquainted with their nonsense.

And Lawrence Sellin comes up with a brave new idea - to spam New Hampshire elected officials!

Dispatches from Birtherstan - 13 May 2011

Today's dispatches include some thoughts as to why the birthers can't seem to handle things like reality. Media Matters comments on World Nut Daily and their attempt to keep Swiftboat liar Jerome Corsi's book out of the remainder bin. We have thoughts on birtherism as a faith.

The Pest and eFail goes into conspiracyland again, and continues their tradition of whiney demanding letters. Some observations about now ex-inmate Lakin. "The 4th Awakening" comes up with several excursions into wingnuttia. The Pest and eFail explores record new lows in human decency.

But the most fun comes from a parody article in the San Diego Reader about students proving the long form is a forgery. Despite the other parody articles under the same byline - and a complete lack of facts to support the article, the Pest and eFail, Dr. Orly, Pam Barnett, Gateway Pundit, a lot of freepers, Lucianne, SqueekyFromm, and several conspiracy sites all wet themselves with glee over the news. Complete with epic spinning once it starts to dawn on them it might just be a joke........

9 May - Leonard Pitts offers his thoughts as to one of the reasons why birthers can't seem to accept reality.

"Thing is, bigots do not usually stand up and say, “I am a bigot.” They hide this from themselves, at least as much as they hide this from you or me. Indeed, Mel Gibson, last heard telling his girlfriend she would be raped by a pack of effing N-words, just said in an interview that he is not a racist.

In assessing bigotry, then, one learns to judge actions over words. And the actions of many Americans have screamed their discomfort with the idea that a black man is now the man. A computer abstract of his birth certificate, a perfectly ordinary document that satisfies passport requirements of the U.S. State Department does not satisfy Donald Trump? Give me a break.

Some have suggested that Obama’s opponents — like George W. Bush’s — are simply out to delegitimize his presidency. Wrong. They are actually out to delegitimize him.

I mean, we just saw the president of the United States required to show his papers, like some brother caught driving too nice a car in too nice a neighborhood after dark.

Presidenting while black, I suppose.

Nor does even that suffice to prove his bona fides, as diehards now challenge the validity of the new document and Trump turns his attention to supposed irregularities in Obama’s academic transcripts.

It never stops."

What's interesting is watching the comments prove the point.

Dispatches from Birtherstan - 13 April 2011

Today's dispatches has a Kansas man who sued to try and keep Obama off the state balllot. (and was told "no".) The Pest and eFail finally realizes that the State of Hawaii doesn't give out a "long form" anymore, so of course they have to make it some deep dark conspiracy. Mitt Rommey seems to be courting sane Republicans.

Media Matters covers the World Nut Daily / Donald Trump link, The Pest and eFail lie about Hawaiian State Law (and, well, everything else). Rep. Eric Cantor hopes Trump isn't being serious. Arizona's undead birther bill makes it out of the state senate, and Lucas Smith's painting gets noticed - and sold.

And a tip of the hat to "Jennifer C", who managed to give me the remaining keys to the puzzle of who is the person using the name "BJ Smartazz". Turns out the birther puppeteer has a long history of insanity. And by insanity, I mean at or beyond Orly Taitz or Theresa Cao level of nuts.

12 April - The De Soto Explorer reports an attempt to keep Barack Obama off the 2012 ballot.

"A Wichita man on Monday petitioned top state officials to keep President Barack Obama off the Kansas ballot in 2012, saying that the president wasn’t eligible for the office because he has failed to prove he was born in the United States.

“I’m saying that he (Obama) is going to file documents to be on the Kansas ballot. At the time, I would like the state of Kansas to be prepared,” said David Merton Shultz."

The result?

"The State Objections Board rejected Shultz’s request by a 3-0 vote, with members agreeing that the petition was too early. Under state law, any challenge of a candidate being on the ballot must be made within three days of that candidate officially filing his or her candidacy in the state."

And he's a repeat offender

"In 2010, Kobach said Obama would resolve questions about his citizenship by producing a detailed birth certificate. A year before that, he joked at a GOP barbecue that Obama and God shared something in common because neither has a birth certificate.

Shultz, 63, who described himself as a movie prop engineer, said he has done hundreds of hours of research and has concluded that Obama, a Democrat, hasn’t proved he was born in this country. That would make him ineligible to be president because the U.S. Constitution says only natural born citizens of the United States may be eligible for the office, he said."

But he's not a racist, honest!

"Shultz questioned the validity of Obama’s certificate of live birth, and said Obama’s supporters have spent a lot of time and money to smear those who question where he was born as racists or so-called birthers."

Well, if it wasn't for the fact that so many of the birthers ARE racist......

"Shultz said it was peculiar that a “mulatto baby” was born and yet no one from the hospital remembers the occasion. “That was not a common occurrence. It would stick in someone’s mind,” he said"

1) Racist much?
2) Hawaii has been a melting pot for a long time now. A mixed race child in the early 60's would not be of note.

"Shultz said he would be back at the appropriate time to file a challenge, and asked that state officials pass a law similar to one considered in Arizona in which a candidate for president would be required to show proof of citizenship to get on the ballot. “I’m here to partner with you guys,” Shultz told members of the Objections Board.

But Stegall told him, “The task of this board is not to provide help with you coming back later.”

In other words "go away, you bother us"

Dispatches from Birtherstan - 1 April 2011

Birtherstan tends to be a location where the population are fools 365 days a year. And today is no exception. We have Herman Cain following Donald Trump's lead. Kerchner writing a letter demanding the US Army immediately dismiss all charges against inmate Lakin. While the Tea Party rally in DC was small, the birther presence was there.

Reality Check Radio interviews Tim Adams, and his story doesn't hold up under questioning. Lawrence O'Donnell wonders what the hell Donald Trump or the roadkill tribble on his head are doing. Sher Zieve spews forth in the Pest and eFail. Robin of Berkeley seems to be testing the waters of birtherstan.

And finally the Pest and eFail has their readers sockpuppets resend their own whiny letters to Fox News, while a perfect storm of crazy develops as Padawan Pauly and Theresa Cao join forces, and a 1914 civics text gives information the de Vattelists won't much like.

31 March - According to Alex Pareene at Salon, Herman Cain has followed Donald Trump's lead in going birther.

"In an interview with a conservative Florida blog, Cain said Trump wasn't "off base," and added that although Cain himself had not given the matter much thought, he decided Obama should "prove he was born in the United States."

(The president has proved that, already. But Cain hasn't "studied enough to have a view one way or the other" on the matter of reality versus feverish make-believe, so who can blame him?)

This is a great development. The more press Trump gets, the more other candidates -- be they fringe or supposedly mainstream -- will attempt to wrest control of the media's precious attention. The easily distracted political press will only focus on the famous or the crazy, so to become the former you must sound like the latter. By May, Rick Santorum will be asking how we can be sure the president isn't a lizard person."

It may be more accurate to say that Trump is following Cain's lead though. As I reported on 23 July 2010, he was playing flirty birther games with Fantasy Tiddlywinks League member Carl Swennson.

Dispatches from Birtherstan - 8-10 January 2011

Short and early dispatches today, as I'm spending family time. The birtherstani are trying to spin saturday's shooting though, with expected disgusting results.

7 January -World Nut Daily talks about Dr. Orly's upcoming refusal by the Supreme Court.

"In the separate cases of two U.S. soldiers – Lt. Col. Terrence Lakin and Capt. Connie Rhodes – who refused orders from a commander in chief they allege has not demonstrated eligibility to hold command, attorney Dr. Orly Taitz says lower courts have issued contradictory rulings to defer making a decision, rulings that now must be resolved by the nation's highest court."

Not really. Dr. Rhodes withdrew her civil lawsuit, fired Dr. Orly, and followed her deployment orders. Lakin publically disobeyed orders, resulting in his being found guilty under the UCMJ.

Apples and Oranges.

"In the case of Capt. Rhodes, Judge Land insisted the legitimacy of the commander in chief was a question for the military and issued Taitz a $20,000 sanction for thus bringing a "frivolous" lawsuit to a civilian court."

Actually the $20,000 was due to courtroom behaviour and her response to his Order to Show Cause as to why she shouldn't be sanctioned for $10,000.

Dispatches from Birtherstan - for 11-15 November 2010

And coming out of Veteran's day weekend, today's dispatches has Dr. Orly on a list of challengers. More about Fitzpatrick running his mouth in the courtroom. We peek in on Lame Cherry and find they're just as bigoted and hate-filled as before. The birthers attempt to spin the Congressional Research Service report - with results as predictable as they are laughable. Chris Strunk shows a level of legal skill that usually would be treated with Imodium AD. Gary Kreep and Floyd Brown are having adventures in Alaska. More about anti-Semite Andy Martin's Hawaiian Vacation. Sharon Rondeau continues to waste money on Fitzpatrick's phone calls. Conspiracy goodness from "Conservative Monster". And someone goes down a particularly ugly and vile road to harass Berg's paralegal.

8 November - CalBuzz offers their take on the next California Senate race.

"Orly Taitz – The Birther Movement whack job , who’s never categorically denied she’s a space alien, has kept a low profile since delivering heart palpitations to establishment Republican types by making a run at the party’s nomination for Secretary of State in the June primary. But in the current atmosphere of right-wing madness and all-around political weirdness, who better to make the GOP case for incoherent, conspiracy-based, constitutional creationist Palinism? Perhaps the California Republicans, still nursing the wounds of being hit by a bus, could warm to an authentic Mama Grizzly? Candidate Rank: 2."

Dispatches from Birtherstan - for 13-14 October 2010

In today's dispatches, we have Fitzpatrick trying to disqualify his latest judge. Dr. Orly gets upset at the Politico for pointing out she's the kiss of death. Sharon Rondeau describes the type of lies that the Pest and eFail will publish. Docket update in Keyes/Barnett v Obama. Fitzpatrick reprints an anti-Obama handbill with some negative historical significance, and links to an article by Comrade Mark McGrew in Pravda where McGrew calls for the overthrow of the US Government by internal, military, or external forces.

Such the patriot, eh??

Fitzpatrick also doesn't like the Time Magazine article citing him. And some of Fitzpatrick's past writings from 2007 surface, showing some sad familiarity along with some connections that I suspect many of his current allies wouldn't be overly happy with.

9 October - Over at Carl Swensson's place, Walter Fitzpatrick tries to tell the Pidgeon that they're gonna need a new judge, because, wahh, the one brought in for his case won't do what he wants him to do.

"Note well: Jon Kerry Blackwood was burdened under a more expansive lawful duty on Tuesday. It was Blackwood's duty to declare every illicit Tennessee Grand Jury in need of immediate repair and rehabilitation ordering alternates to be called upon instantly (Blackwood comes from Roane County, Tennessee wherein one Mr. Snow has been a permanent member of the County Grand Jury for twenty-three consecutive years).

Blackwood must now be removed from the bench in the hearing of my case. Stutts must be removed as the state's prosecutor.

Blackwood's judgment of Tuesday 5 October 2010 is now fatally undone.

We must stop now going forward in state's bogus and disingenuous (bad faith) prosecution, and start going backwards.

The government's specific criminal intent as directed against myself is in plain view and is unarguable."

So basically he's claiming Blackwood had a duty to do Fitzpatrick's bidding. And since he didn't do Fitzpatrick's bidding, he's now "tainted" and needs to be removed.

As a legal strategy, it has the benefit of being novel and unique, Also "stupid" as well. And the ego on Fitzpatrick must be amazing, almost Dr. Orly level.

Dispatches from Birtherstan - for 14 September 2010

Much of birtherstan has been getting more and more openly racist of late, which is being mixed with a fury not as much at Obama, but all the people in the United States who aren't supporting the birthers in their anti-American jihad against the President. More and more you're seeing bitter, angry venom directed towards those citizens who insist on remaining in the reality-based community rather than immigrating to birtherstan.

Anyway, Sharon Rondeau starts off by whining that the courts didn't take Fitzpatrick's treason charge seriously, though she seems to think that Fitzpatrick is still a serving officer at a higher rank than he retired with. One wonders when the Birtherstani Navy will promote him to captain or some such nonsense. Lame Cherry is....well, Lame Cherry. The Pest and eFail whines that real politicians aren't taking their claims (or those of Lucas Smith) seriously. Oh, and they want money to send anti-semite Andy Martin on a vacation. In a move that is a surprise to anyone with the IQ of aquarium gravel, World Nut Daily's Joseph Farah has stopped giving Obama the benefit of the doubt (which falsely implies he ever did in the first place.) The "Veterans Council" of the "United States Patriots Union" wants to "help" Lakin though a "process" known as "sheer idiocy".

9 September - Sharon Rondeau whines that Walter Fitzpatrick's infamous "treason" charge against Obama has never been answered by the courts.

"On March 17, 2009, a criminal complaint was filed in the Eastern District of Tennessee against Barack Hussein Obama for Treason.

While the complaint called Obama an “imposter president,” it focused on the violation of the Posse Comitatus Act committed by the U.S. Army acting under Obama over the deploying of U.S. troops in the town of Samson, AL on March 10, 2009."

Among many other wingnut claims.

"Filed by Cmdr. Walter Fitzpatrick, III, the complaint has gone unanswered. Obama has not taken steps to disprove the claims, nor has Fitzpatrick been arrested for mutiny."

1) Fitzpatrick retired at the rank of Lt. Commander.
2) Fitzpatrick is not a serving officer in the United States Navy, and has not been such for over a decade. Charges of mutiny would not apply because he is not under the UCMJ, but rather is a civilian to be tried under civilian law, not military law.
3) Did you get dropped on your head a lot as a child??

"Another criminal complaint filed in the Western District of New York was similarly ignored. "

It wasn't ignored - the courts said that Laily's Fantasy Tiddlywinks League "presentment" was invalid.

"Other public officials have been served with presentments which declared Obama guilty of fraud and treason."

None of which came from a valid court.

"One congressional candidate stated that there could be as many as 10,000 people within the government deserving of jail time, and “probably 100 should be facing capital punishment.”

Rondeau didn't note - and has failed to note - that Ernest Huber, the congressional candidate she refers to, only got 5.82% of the vote in the primary.

Dispatches from Birtherstan - for 13 July 2010

Today's dispatches have Apuzzo's latest pack of lies ad. Speaking of packs of lies, we have Polland / Polarik's latest bovine byproduct video. Walter Fitzpatrick's ticked off that people actually got to see his court transcript and discover for themselves that he made stuff up in his retelling of his hearing. But then it seems Walter Fitzpatrick is no stranger to the courts, as records from Washington State show. Polland / Polarik shows some buried racism. Sen. David Vitter tries to Pamper the birthers, giving them Huggies in hopes they can Depends on his support. Ruth Jones wakes up and writes a reply to the courts without taking her meds. And a hint that Lakin might be joining forces with a certain Dentist / Lawyer.......

12 July - Mario Apuzzo and Charles Kerchner, failing to achieve their goals in the courts, keep trying in the court of public opinion, as their latest Washington Post ad shows.

(Scribd link here)

Oh, and they're hitting people up for money. Funny how they didn't mention that the Appeals Court said "no", and Apuzzo has an Order To Show Cause to boot, isn't it??

12 July - Ron Polland / Polarik has Yet Another Video out where he flogs the same old long dead horses.

It starts out (at 0:15) with the claim that Politifact ran a backdated (to 13 June 2008) story about the COLB. The claim here seems to be they wrote this after his "discovery" and backdated it to prove him wrong. (Here's a web archive from 17 June 2008)

Then at 0:27 he throws out (without any facts what so ever), that Politfact "forged" the COLB and sent it to FactCheck and the DailyKos. I'll assume his corn flakes told him this, since not even Polarik offers anything to back this up.

At 2:44 he complains that the campaign got a copy "when only family members can get one". Maybe the campaign got a copy because Obama requested a copy from the State of Hawaii?? That would be the simplest, most logical conclusion - which means Polland/Polarik's conspiracy-addled brain can't figure it out.

He then goes on an extended whine about the lighting on the factcheck photos, (maybe because those photos are the biggest piece of evidence out there that Polland/Polarik lied though his teeth), and then claims that Snopes actually validated his forgery claim, citing this thread on Snopes' message board about the email claim circulating at that time, and was NOT a verification from Snopes on this story.

The more he tries to bullshit, the deeper he digs himself.

Dispatches from Birtherstan - for 10 - 11 June 2010

Was busy moving stuff into the new place yesterday (the BIG move takes place this weekend), so I missed a day. But Birtherstan never sleeps, as we have a video from Lyin' Lakin with more of the same. Dr. Orly has gone completely off the rails in trying to explain away her election loss, channeling her inner Bev Harris in the process. She seems to think that getting 25% of the vote is neck and neck. World Nut Daily reports on the Tim Adams story, without mentioning those pesky white nationalist details. Tim Adams himself seems to have quite the past history for racist comments. I have links to the PsyWar paper Major General Vallely co-wrote with Lt. Col. Michael Aquino in the 1980's. And more about Walter Fitzpatrick's buddy Darren Huff.,

9 June - Lakin buries himself deeper, releasing a new video

Nothing new, just the same old birther lies and demands for the same records.

9 June - As expected, Dr. Orly took a big ol' hit off the nitrous tube before explaining away her loss in the California Secretary of State race. (malware and redirect warning)

"Remember, a year ago, the voting machines were being contracted out to a S. american company. what does that tell you. PPL have forgotten about that. We must insist on paper votes for every election this year and in 2012."

The ironic thing is that Debra Bowen has done a lot towards making elections more open, with verifiable results and a paper trail, since she took office.

"We will never again have honest elections."

Someone's upset she lost.

"...at issue is not only the paper ballots, but also the machines counting the ballots. As those can be hacked, rigged, programmed with certain parameters. At issue is also lack of supervision of the count. We don’t know what they are counting: ballots that we filled out by us or ballots filled out by some thugs in Chicago or Mexico a few months ago.

When Coleman lost in Minnesota, they had a whole car with ballots suddenly appear a few days after the election, god knows from where, god knows how.

Unless and until there are ordinary citizens at the precincts actually counting the ballots, verifying the count, as people are filling those out, you always will have high likelihood of rigging in many different ways.

I watched the trends around the country. Anti establishment candidates were winning in KY, SC, NV, ME . Tea party backed candidates were winning. Look what happened yesterday in CA: all the tea party candidates lost badly and were kept at an artificial 25%-26% threshold.

My campaign manager is Scott Hart of Hart political consulting. He was some 20 years in politics, he is an attorney. We did everything. 300,000 e-newsletters went to registered Republicans. two batches of robocalls of 500,000 each batch. He analysed my race and felt that it is very close and I should have a slight edge. Even Adam Probolski, who is a local pro-establishment hack and hurt me by making terrible statements, was guessing that I should get at least 35% of the vote."

*chuckle* It's not that people didn't think she was a good candidate, it's a CONSPIRACY!