Yes To Democracy

Second verse, same as the first - Birther Update

(crossposted from "Bad Fiction")

I was on the road last week, so I'm still playing catchup in birtherville.

11 August - Phil Berg appears on ABC's Nightline. It's not a shining note for him, though he tries to spew the same old tired crap. Hawaiian broadcaster Ron Jacobs takes him apart and Berg eventually gets a deer in the headlights look. Though to give him credit, he doesn't fall apart like Dr. Orly does.

Part One

Part Two

Part Three

Part Four

It was interesting to note that Jacobs seems to have done a LOT more background research than Berg did. Maybe Berg should have looked at sources other than his fellow PUMAs

11 August - Part two of the Esquire article on Dr. Orly comes out.

"Then there's Orly Taitz, queen of the "birthers," who brings outrageous thinking to a whole new level. This was her at the Knob Creek Machine Gun Shoot in Kentucky, which I touched on here last week, well before the town-hall tirades took over the airwaves. This was her four months ago, shouting over the gunfire in a thin, shrill voice:

"I am extremely concerned about Obama specifically because I was born in Soviet Union, so I can tell that he is extremely dangerous. I believe he is the most dangerous thing one can imagine, in that he represents radical communism and radical Islam: He was born and raised in radical Islam, all of his associations are with radical Islam, and he was groomed in the environment of the dirty Chicago mafia. Can there be anything scarier than that?"

And just in case you have any doubt about the fantasy tiddlywinks league's attitude on "fair and impartial juries"

"A few minutes later, the man standing in the booth and passing out flyers — Carl Swennson, a computer store owner from Georgia — addressed the gathering crowd. "All right, everybody! If you are from Kentucky and you would like to be a part of a common-law jury to try and indict the usurper, Barry Soetoro aka Barack Hussein Obama, all you need to do is step forward and we will hold court here today, right now!"

"Speaking truth, brother."

Three people stepped forward.

"Anybody else from Kentucky? All you gotta be is citizens of the state, eligible to vote."

And the fantasy tiddlywinks league wonders why the courts don't take them seriously.

Driving Miss Orly - Birther Update

(Crossposted from Bad Fiction)

Bit of a short one to start off the weekend with. I'm traveling for the next few days down to California, so I shant have the time to update like normal.

31 July - Bill Maher goes off on the birthers

4 August - The DNC actually shows backbone and fights back against the birthers and their teabagging friends.

With some of these people, they have finally found a tactic that works for them. If they can just yell and be assholes is serves their purpose. If you let them talk try and explain themselves, then the crazy bubbles out like a liquid shit fountain.

See Liars and Birthers, only in Kenya..... (Birther Update)

(crossposted from the original at Bad Fiction)

""But why would people so woefully lacking in the basic facts of an issue think they were the best informed? Social scientists call the phenomenon "pseudo-certainty." I call it "being a fucking moron." - Al Franken, (later Senator Al Franken, D-MN)

The birthers get a second wind, with Kreep and Dr. Orly parting ways just before her radio meltdown. And Dr. Orly also is pimping a "Kenyan Birth Certificate" that even people at "Free Republic" calls her an idiot for believing in.

You guys just now figured that out??

See Liars and Birthers, only in Kenya..... (Birther Update)

""But why would people so woefully lacking in the basic facts of an issue think they were the best informed? Social scientists call the phenomenon "pseudo-certainty." I call it "being a fucking moron." - Al Franken, (later Senator Al Franken, D-MN)

The birthers get a second wind, with Kreep and Dr. Orly parting ways just before her radio meltdown. And Dr. Orly also is pimping a "Kenyan Birth Certificate" that even people at "Free Republic" calls her an idiot for believing in.

You guys just now figured that out??

Close Encounters of the Birther Kind - Birther Update

(crossposted from BadFiction)

And I close off my first year (oh hell!) of blogging about and writing about these birthers, from back when they were cultists with the Cult of the COLB.

Seriously, I should have run screaming when I had the chance. I had NO idea that a simple 3-part debunking would have continued this long. In retrospect, the conspiracy myths around the Clintons should have been a tip-off (and indeed, many of the same people who spewed that bilge are now doing the same with the birther lies.

From PUMAs and Freepers and avowed racists, to sore losers and people convinced Obama's a muslim. Convolutely conspiracy theories and rejected lawsuits. Nothing has stopped the "true believer" in their plummet to the bottom of the gene pool.

For some, it's a strong disagreement with Obama's politics. But for others, it's the 1st amendment to their own personal Constitution, that "no g*dd*amn n*gger is going to be MY president!!"

Many of the birthers see a world of Black and White. Not of race per se, but an "you're with us or you're a traitor" mindset that denies any rational input. To them, no amount of evidence will be enough, the goalposts will be constantly in motion.

In 2012 or 2016, they will still be rocking back and forth, muttering about the "usurper" being led in shackles from the White House "....anyday now." And Gods only know what conspiracy theories they'll come up with by then.

The GOP is starting to realize the albatross around their neck. Time will only tell if they have the ability to shake it loose and rebuild their party, or if it will further fall to the extremists on the right.

Oppose Obama for his politics if you must (there are things he's doing I don't agree with either). But you can be the "loyal opposition" without buying into a sea of disproven lies, slanders, and unfounded hatred. I didn't support Bush's policies from 2001 to 2009, (I wish McCain had won in the 2001 primaries for that matter). But right or wrong, Bush was never "not my president". I didn't claim he wasn't a citizen, come up with bizarre theories about his family. I objected to him for his policies and actions.

People can object to a seated president without going down the yellow brick road into conspiracy land. We have a common ground, which is the United States of America. Not a red country, or a blue country, but a purple country made up of people that should work together for the common good.

Not supporting someone doesn't mean you have to believe every lie and slander about them though.

The Rocky Birther Picture Show - Birther Update

(Crossposted from Bad Fiction)

The media coverage of the birthers continues, none of it good. The GOP realizes they have a problem on their hands, and proceed to try and blame the Democrats for the Birthers and their behaviour. Dr. Chiyome Fukino of the Hawaii State Department of Health all but screams "HE WAS BORN IN HAWAII YOU DOLTS!". Dr. Orly ignores her clients to bask in the media limelight, Joseph Farah of World Nut Daily is still a lying weasel, Polarik may have been outed, and we hear from Flowbee Johnson of "Whitey Tape" fame.

23 July - And Salon says what my blog and just about every other anti-birther blog out there has been saying for months now - Sarah Obama NEVER said Obama was born in Kenya.

"What Liddy was referring to is actually an affidavit filed by a street preacher named Ron McRae, who conducted an interview with Sarah Obama, the second wife of President Obama's grandfather, through a translator. (Sarah Obama is not the president's biological grandmother, but he calls her "Granny Sarah.")

In that interview, Sarah Obama does in fact say at one point that she was there for her grandson's birth. But that was a mistake, a confusion in translation. As soon as a jubilant McRae began to press her for further details about her grandson being born in Kenya, the family realized the mistake and corrected him. And corrected him. And corrected him. (The audio is available for download here.)

No matter, though, because people who believe in a conspiracy theory simply hear what they want to hear. So some Birther sites have posted transcripts and YouTube clips that end abruptly with the mistranslation and don't include the corrections. McRae, for his part, included the full translation in his affidavit -- he thinks it's all just part of the conspiracy. "Some few younger relatives, including [translator Vitalis Akech Ogombe]," McRae wrote in his court filing, "have obviously been versed to counter such facts with the common purported information from the American news media that Obama was born in Hawaii."

And again, the transcript goes:

"MCRAE: Could I ask her about his actual birthplace? I would like to see his birthplace when I come to Kenya in December. Was she present when he was born in Kenya?

OGOMBE: Yes. She says, yes, she was, she was present when Obama was born.

MCRAE: When I come in December. I would like to come by the place, the hospital, where he was born. Could you tell me where he was born? Was he born in Mombasa?

OGOMBE: No, Obama was not born in Mombasa. He was born in America.

MCRAE: Whereabouts was he born? I thought he was born in Kenya.

OGOMBE: No, he was born in America, not in Mombasa.

MCRAE: Do you know where he was born? I thought he was born in Kenya. I was going to go by and see where he was born.

OGOMBE: Hawaii. Hawaii. Sir, she says he was born in Hawaii. In the state of Hawaii, where his father was also learning, there. The state of Hawaii."

So even with McRae trying to lead them on, it STILL says Hawaii.....

And let me get this straight. The birthers demand written evidence of the birth certificate, but are willing to accept a translated verbal account from his STEP-Grandmother?? Not surprising, they're quite willing to accept Polarik even though there's no evidence he really exists or has the skills and education he claims either......

Houston, we (may) have a Polarik.....

(crossposted from Bad Fiction)

Over at Barackryphal, Loren may have uncovered the identity of one of the big names in birtherdom.

Namely that of "Dr. Ron Polarik, Ph.D. in Bullshitology".

"Given Polarik's history, I fully expect him to respond to this revelation by trying to direct attention to the discrete details he's given that weren't lies. The degrees that he does have, as opposed to the ones he made up, or the false insinuations of technical expertise that he tried to draw from his educational resume. If he addresses his naming at all, I expect him to attempt to convince people that a mere history of misrepresentation shouldn't make him untrustworthy. That people shouldn't doubt his expertise in computers and scanners simply because he's not actually an expert in those things.

Because as is readily evident from his C.V., his education, and his work history, Polland/Polarik has no discernible expertise in computer forensics, digital imagery, or document examination.

I feel I should repeat that with emphasis: Ron Polland/Ron Polarik has no discernible expertise in computer forensics, digital imagery, or document examination.

His trade is in statistics and surveys. He has no degrees relating to computers or technology. He is not a computer expert; he has used computers. He is not a scanner expert; he has used scanners. At best, he is an amateur photography buff. He may have a doctorate, true, but it is in a field wholly unrelated to computer technology. Just see Florida State University's program profile. Even had he signed his real name to his 'XXXXXXXXX' declaration, he still would not have qualified as an expert in the field in which he was attempting to provide expert testimony. Polland would never survive a Daubert challenge, and any lawyer would be foolish to attempt to pass him off as an expert on these matters. "

Land of the OBots - 28 July 2009

Just a note to let you all know I'll be on Land of the OBots on BlogTalk radio, hosted by "Reality Check" at PolitiJab.

The show starts at 9pm Eastern / 6pm Pacific, and will be posted later on iTunes for download.

The call-in number is (347) 324-5546

Obama declared a "Natural Born Citizen"

(crossposted from "Bad Fiction")

The Honolulu Advertiser posts a new article where Dr. Chiyome Fukino, director of the State Department of Health for the State of Hawaii, states that Obama is a "a natural-born American citizen."

"In an attempt to quash persistent rumors that President Obama was not born in Honolulu on Aug. 4, 1961, Hawai'i's health director reiterated this afternoon that she has personally seen Obama's birth certificate in the Health Department's archives.

"I, Dr. Chiyome Fukino, director of the Hawai'i State Department of Health, have seen the original vital records maintained on file by the Hawai'i State Department of Health verifying Barrack Hussein Obama was born in Hawai'i and is a natural-born American citizen. I have nothing further to add to this statement or my original statement issued in October 2008 over eight months ago...."

On Oct. 31, Fukino originally tried to put an end to the belief among so-called "birthers" that Obama was not born in the United States and thus was ineligible to run for the office of president."

Kentucky Fried Fruitcake - Birther Update

(crossposted to Bad Fiction)

There is an old saying - be careful what you wish for, you might get it. The birthers now have the media attention they've been demanding, but it's been a monkey's paw for them.

This is going to be another video-heavy report, so be warned. Some of the videos though are pretty cool.

21July - An organization called the "Western Center for Journalism" publishes a report from a supposed "retired CIA officer". The fact that it quotes that long-since disproved claim that"

"For if he did, then the tape recording of Obama’s Kenyan grandmother asserting that she was present at his birth in Kenya becomes far more important."

1) Sarah Obama is his step-grandmother, and
2) It was the edited version Berg presented in court from McRae that made this claim. The unedited version has her stating very clearly he was born in Hawaii.

(audio here)
(transcript in PDF form here)

They then go on to quote the known liar and fraud "Polarik"

"Ron Polarik has made what several experts claim to be a cogent case that it is a forgery. There have been a couple of attempts to refute his argument and Polarik has replied to the most extensive of them."

Actually, Polarik never has responded to his critics except to attack and claim "I'm right because I say I'm right". He has yet to provide any credible evidence to back up any of his claims - even his claims of his educational background and training.

In a nutshell this "document" is nothing more than the same old tired bullshit that the birthers have been claiming for almost a year now.

So who is "The Western Center for Journalism".

"Founded in 1991 by Joseph Farah (the brains behind WorldNetDaily.com website) and James H. Smith (former publisher of the Sacramento Union), The Western Center for Journalism has been sponsoring investigative journalism for eighteen years.

It first made its mark following the suspicious death of Deputy White House Counsel Vincent Foster during the Clinton presidency. Officially ruled a suicide by authorities, reporter Christopher Ruddy–with assistance from the Center for Western Journalism–unearthed evidence that shouted, “cover up!” No matter how hard they tried to conceal the real cause of Foster’s death, Ruddy’s dogged investigations clearly showed that the suicide ruling was phony."

So founded by the founder of World Nut Daily and dedicated to right-wing conspiracy theories. In otherwords, absolutely no credibility what so ever. Which has been noticed before. Example:

"Farah likes to peddle the story that the WJC was founded "to fill a growing void in my industry's commitment to investigative reporting" and that its "mission was not ideological." In fact, the WJC didn't do all that much actual investigating; its main function was to attack the Clinton administration by promoting conspiracy theories surrounding the death of deputy White House counsel Vince Foster -- it accepted $330,000 in donations from then-Clinton-hater Richard Mellon Scaife toward that end, and other conservative foundations contributed as well -- and it went dormant as soon as Clinton left office.

Now that there's a Democrat in the Oval Office again, guess who's back?

The first hint of the WJC's resurrection came last August with a WorldNetDaily commentary by Andrea Shea King touting Jerome Corsi's factually dubious anti-Obama book, asserting that the book contains "legitimate questions about Obama that the author meticulously documents in the book's nearly 700 footnotes." The article contained the tagline, "This column was commissioned by the Western Journalism Center."

Currently it's being ran by far-right neocon Floyd G. Brown, one of the architects of the infamous "Willie Horton" ad and the founder of the far-right group "Citizens United"