Friday, July 31, 2009

From Birthers to Deathers Healthcare Reform ,Racism and Class Warfare

Health Care racism & class warfare Joan Walsh at Salon.com
G.Gordon Liddy a Birther not dissuaded by facts or reality
Lou Dobbs unrepentant in his underhanded nuanced racist attacks on Obama's authenticity as the legal president of America

Once again the Republicans and their propagandists in the media are resorting to calling Obama a racist or that he is not an American citizen & is therefore not the real president so they can launch an all out attack on him .Republicans and their "Echo-chamber distort the facts about Obama's birth along with accusing him of a hidden agenda to destroy traditional America by giving more benefits to blacks than to whites. They also make up stuff and pass it around as if it were facts such as claiming Obama's Healthcare Bill is being used to promote abortions and euthanasia. But if abortion is a legal medical procedure why shouldn't its cost be covered along with other medical procedures even some liberals think abortion shouldn't be covered.

As a Canadian citizen the debates over healthcare seem rather ridiculous why shouldn't every citizen have the right to the best Healthcare that can be offered. Why should American citizens be forced to remortgage their house or go bankrupt because of Healthcare costs.

I know we Canadian or at least many of us believe Healthcare like basic education is not a privilege but a right. But wealthy American citizens believe that the best Healthcare should only be available to the wealthy who are a privileged class who are Exceptional after all .

For what's the point of being wealthy they claim if any ordinary citizen is able to get the best Healthcare possible . The Rich and upper class in America believe that only they should be able to see the best doctors and specialists and benefit from the advances in medicine & medical technology.

These wealthy Americans dread the thought of of some poor white person or a poor black American or poor Hispanic American being able to access decent Healthcare rather than basically relying on clinics & hospitals which are understaffed and underequipped which are essentially Clinics for Paupers . As William Blake once said " Pity would be no more/if there were no poor"- How else could Americans gauge their success if there were not millions going without decent healthcare or education, or proper nutrition or decent housing. As John Hagee who represents a rather nasty side of the American psyche said about the poor, the mentally ill or even Veterans who live on the streets- he said " Let them Starve" this is what passes these days for Christianity in America.

The point is that other western industrialized countries believe in " human Rights" for all citizens and not just the rich and powerful or the upper Middle Class who faun over the The Rich and Powerful hoping to join their ranks one day or at least be invited to their Garden Parties or allowed into their exclusive country clubs and schools and universities or even their fancy hospitals.

It is no wonder the United States has such a high mortality rate compared to other industrialized nations.
America has also a second rate education system compared to other nations but don't ever tell an American that they believe their country is the best in everything, This is not so except when it comes to having more Nukes than other countries. They are also among the top five when it comes to Capital Punishment and no. 2 when it comes to executing children and the Mentally Retarded or even when it comes to having the most outdated draconian unjust drug laws.

"Is GOP using race to block Obama agenda? Ya think?" by Joan Walsh at Salon.com, July 30, 2009

...Matthews led into our segment, mainly focusing on Glenn Beck's nutty claim that Obama is racist, by noting that Obama's poll numbers are dropping on healthcare, and I took the opportunity to point out that there's a connection between the organized campaign to label him some kind of racist alien socialist who's ineligible to be president, and his difficulties getting his social and economic agenda passed...




and Joan Walsh continues:

There is no question in my mind, and I doubt there's much in Mfume's either, that these divide-and-conquer tactics stay in use because, well, they still work. Beck and Limbaugh won't convince a majority of Americans that Obama is either racist or Kenyan, but the dirty fog of their constant smears has to tarnish Obama at least a little. The irony is the last 50 years have seen brutal class warfare in which the forces behind the wealthy transferred income and privilege consistently upward. Yet now the forces of reaction are claiming Obama is the class warrior, and the race warrior, declaring war on whites, and trying to snatch the status-quo privileges -- like healthcare, allegedly -- from the haves, to provide for unworthy have nots.

It's a noxious strategy, and we can't let it succeed. Obama likewise can't let Blue Dogs and allegedly "moderate" Republicans derail his agenda, either. Democrats lose because they fail to deliver on their promises to constituents. Bill Clinton delivered welfare reform, beloved by the right, but almost none of the social supports that were supposed to go along with it, and maybe most important, no healthcare reform that would have made middle-class lives easier. Obama can't make that mistake; he doesn't just need a bill, any old bill, to pass. He needs reforms that will expand healthcare to those who don't have it, bring costs down for those who do (and for the government), and reduce the incentives for profiteers to greenlight unnecessary coverage, and block needed care, all in the interest of big profits. A bad bill might be better than none.


-------------------
Racist anti-immigrant anti-Obama Lou Dobbs on his show Tells the "Uppitty" Black Man Roland Martin To Pipe Down During Obama Birther Debate.
Is Dobbs trying to remind Roland Martin that he should recognize the fact that as a black man he is privileged to be on Dobbs' show. Only white men can shout and get emotional like Dobbs or Beck or Limbaugh or Hannity etc.

Dobbs doesn't appreciate being contradicted by a black man and told that the whole Birther issue is silly nonsense. He tries to force Dobbs' hand that Dobbs is using the Birther conspiracy theory as just another means to attack Obama and raise doubts among American citizens regarding.




Gordon Liddy on Hardball with Chris Mathews.

"Hardball": Liddy Thinks Obama Is An Illegal Alien! July 23,2009

Conservative radio host G. Gordon Liddy tells Chris Matthews he wants President Obama to "present a valid birth certificate" and not a "certificate of live birth."

Liddy is then given proof by Matthews and is still not convinced. So he gets Liddy to tell him that Obama is "an illegal alien" and "should get picked up."

E. Steven Collins, who watches this exchange, then says he is "flabbergasted" by Liddy's ignorance.



MSNBC Maddow debunks MSNBC Matthew about Deathers Conspiracy Theorists



Rachel Maddow: President Obama & The "Deathers"-July 29,2009



Right wing racism on the rise. An emotional tantrum by white people who are concerned their white racial privilege in America is being undermined. They seem to believe that Health Care reform and other Obama policies are mainly to help black Americans and not white Americans.


"False Euthanasia Claims-The claim that the House health care bill pushes suicide is nonsense.FactCheck.org Documents False Euthanasia Claims, Analysis:By Jess Henig, with Lori Robertson July 30, 2009

Summary

On former Sen. Fred Thompson’s radio show, former lieutenant governor of New York Betsy McCaughey said that the House’s proposed health care bill contained a provision that would institute mandatory counseling sessions telling seniors how "to do what’s in society’s best interest … and cut your life short." House Minority Leader John Boehner made a slightly more measured statement, warning that the same provision "may start us down a treacherous path toward government-encouraged euthanasia if enacted into law."

In truth, that section of the bill would require Medicare to pay for voluntary counseling sessions helping seniors to plan for end-of-life medical care, including designating a health care proxy, choosing a hospice and making decisions about life-sustaining treatment. It would not require doctors to counsel that their patients refuse medical intervention.


See more in endnote below.

and from the UK on the Birthers and racism & Obama:

"Matthew Norman: The insanity and enduring racism of the American right":
The Republicans now make the Tories at their worst seem achingly inclusive" Independent .co.uk,July 30,2009


The gestation period for any conspiracy theory is far longer than that for human infants, of course, or even elephants. It tends, in fact, to be endless. It is 45 years since JFK was murdered, 40 since the first moon walk, and almost eight since the Twin Towers fell, and while the various notions (second gunman, studio mock-up, Mossad plot) were conceived almost immediately after those events, they have yet to deliver anything more substantial than lovingly nurtured insanity.

That rag-tag coalition of shock jocks, publicity hungry attorneys, the credulous and simple-minded, plain nutters and above all frustrated racists collectively known as "the birthers" have spent a year banging on about Mr Obama's arrival in this world, and their successors will be banging on about it long after he's left it for the next.

With the hissing wrath of those struggling ferociously to repress the volcanic pressure to screech "uppity nigger" at their head of state, these people conveniently conclude that Obama isn't their head of state at all. The second article of the US Constitution dictates that "no person except a natural born citizen" can be president, and the birthers argue that since Mr Obama was born in Mombasa, Kenya, he is disqualified.

...What is more intriguing about the birther "movement"... is the light it casts on the necrotic state of the American right. Concerns that the Grand Old Party would respond to Obama's near landslide by ...adhering to the ... doctrine that the only mistake was in not being nasty and insular enough, prove naïve...

Who leads them at the minute is a mystery. Some think it's Sarah Palin, others the deliriously repugnant Rush Limbaugh, who inevitably joins the other oracles of US radio and TV in keeping the birther debate bubbling. What leadership there is, so it seems to this ignorant observer across the ocean, comes from the grass roots ... the sort of God fearin', gun-totin', sister-shaggin' sweethearts who screeched "terrorist" and "kill him" when John McCain mentioned Obama on the stump. Unable to compute that America elected a black man, they have decided that he isn't their President at all. No longer can they use the "n" word or fantasise publicly about lynch mobs. But they can divert their rage into a bogus legalistic dispute, rejected time and again by the Supreme Court, as freely as they like.

...America is waking to the realisation that untold millions aren't even close to accepting the democratic will that put a black man in the White House. ... (some of them ) will kid themselves that their objection is constitutional rather than racial, and a few will be emboldened to hatch plots to uphold their patriotic ideals via an assassin's gun.

The Prez, meanwhile, is content to deal with such banalities as healthcare reform, and stay silent on the question of his birthplace. Politically speaking, this is a gift from heaven, exposing the vicious dementia of the Republican right to a degree of riducule that should help sweep him to a second term. The wider implications will please him less


McCaughey’s Scare Tactics


Many of the e-mails cite former Republican lieutenant governor of New York Betsy McCaughey’s interview on former senator and Republican presidential candidate Fred Thompson’s radio show. On July 16, McCaughey, who founded a group called the Committee to Reduce Infection Deaths in 2004, appeared on Thompson’s program to discuss health care. Citing page 425 of the bill, McCaughey claimed that “the Congress would make it mandatory … that every five years, people in Medicare have a required counseling session that will tell them how to end their life sooner, how to decline nutrition, how to decline being hydrated, how to go into hospice care … all to do what’s in society’s best interest … and cut your life short.” Thompson chuckled at this and said, “I’ve seen bits and parts of [the bill], Betsy, but I didn’t know that.” He hasn’t seen that bit, of course, because it doesn’t exist.

Endnote Euthanasia:

"False Euthanasia Claims-The claim that the House health care bill pushes suicide is nonsense.FactCheck.org Documents False Euthanasia Claims, Analysis:By Jess Henig, with Lori Robertson July 30, 2009


McCaughey misrepresents the content of page 425 of the bill. That section would require Medicare to pay for some end-of-life planning counseling sessions with a health care practitioner. Here’s part of the section in question.

H.R. 3200, page 425: Subject to paragraphs (3) and (4), the term ‘advance care planning consultation’ means a consultation between the individual and a practitioner described in paragraph (2) regarding advance care planning, if, subject to paragraph (3), the individual involved has not had such a consultation within the last 5 years. Such consultation shall include the following:

(A) An explanation by the practitioner of advance care planning, including key questions and considerations, important steps, and suggested people to talk to.

(B) An explanation by the practitioner of advance directives, including living wills and durable powers of attorney, and their uses.

(C) An explanation by the practitioner of the role and responsibilities of a health care proxy.

(D) The provision by the practitioner of a list of national and State-specific resources to assist consumers and their families with advance care planning … .

(E) An explanation by the practitioner of the continuum of end-of-life services and supports available, including palliative care and hospice, and benefits for such services and supports that are available under this title.

(F)(i) Subject to clause (ii), an explanation of orders regarding life sustaining treatment or similar orders … .

The accepted definition of end-of-life planning means thinking ahead about the care you would like to receive at the end of your life – which may include the choice to reject extraordinary measures of life support, or the choice to embrace them. For instance, the National Library of Medicine describes end-of-life services as "services [that] are available to help patients and their families deal with issues surrounding death." This can include making decisions about treatment, designating a health care proxy, choosing a hospice program and putting together a living will, all of which the bill mentions explicitly as being part of an advance care planning consultation. In a 2003 study, the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality found that "[p]atients who talked with their families or physicians about their preferences for end-of-life care had less fear and anxiety, felt they had more ability to influence and direct their medical care, believed that their physicians had a better understanding of their wishes, and indicated a greater understanding and comfort level than they had before the discussion."


and so it goes,
GORD.

Thursday, July 30, 2009

Obama Accused of Being a "Racist" by Republicans & Their Conservative Media Echo Chamber & Moveon.org Calls For Action Against Lou Dobbs

UPDATE: 1:52 PM & 2:07 PM ,July 30,2009

Anyway US Republicans and the conservative anti-Obama racist Media stirring up hatred of Obama. They claim they are not the "real Racists" but in fact it is Obama who is a racist.

Maddow on Racists slurs against Obama



Join MoveOn's Fight to Stop "Birthers" by Byard Duncan, AlterNet , July 29, 2009.

Sign the petition condemning CNN's resident conspiracy theorist, Lou Dobbs.


Some Americans believe that all sides of any issue should be given equal status whether it is the Birthers conspiracy or the Reptillian Conspiracy or The New World Order and the Illuminati or even such anti-semitic nonsense as found in the Forgery "The Protocols of the Elders of Zion or the Flat Earthers or that the planet is only 6,000 years old as opposed to four billion years old or even racist views of the Neo-Nazis or the KKK or the Minutemen or Posse Comitas. Because they literally believe that these are all just merely a matter of opinion and that "facts" are in the eye of the beholder.

Lou Dobbs Is Alone In The Fringe: Media Renders Final Verdict On Birther Claims-July 30
Tell CNN to address their Dobbs problem here: http://dobbsconspiracy.com/

Lou Dobbs Is Alone In The Fringe: Media Renders Final Verdict On Birther Claims



Segregation and Friends by Jeffrey Feldman at Huffington Post July 29,2009

Recently, Glenn Beck sat on the comfy couch of Fox's morning show Fox & Friends and declared that President Obama is a racist who hates white culture. Of the three hosts who convened this broadcast gem, the one who disagreed with Beck -- Brian Kilmeade -- had recently declared on air that the white race in America had been weakened through interbreeding with non-whites, a statement for which he apologized after it sparked wide-scale outrage. So on this particular morning, viewers who tuned into Fox & Friends watched a host who espouses white Aryan eugenics mix it up with a guest inciting white anger at blacks, followed by some tips on summertime grilling.

...A man who gleefully turns to the camera and bemoans racial mixing is also a guy who spouts off eugenic theories at parties and office meetings. Fox knew about Kilmeade's views and they kept him on air anyway.

The same is true of Beck's foolish idea that President Obama hates white culture. The only way the bookers and marketing folks at Fox & Friends could not know Beck plays to segregationist fears of blacks when talking about the president is if they have all been in a coma for the past year. And yet they booked him anyway, putting him on set for a chat with a guy who thinks that white blood in America has been contaminated by miscegenation.

A morning show that positions itself to appeal to whites uncomfortable with the idea of racial integration in America? So long as the numbers are solid, the media brand experts would say, why the heck not?

...The sad fact is that while legal segregation might have ended in the streets of America, media segregation is alive, kicking, and delivering to the bottom line in the Fox boardroom. And as long as there are enough Americans who like what they see (e.g., blond woman, blond woman, blond woman ... black male criminal), enough ad revenue to be mopped up doing it, and virtually no choice as to how we get our cable content delivered -- that segregation will continue to thrive.

So, welcome to the 1950s. Segregation is alive and well on cable TV.



Fox Host Glenn Beck: Obama Is A "Racist" (VIDEO) at Huffington Post, July 28,2009.

This morning on Fox and Friends, Fox host Glenn Beck accused President Obama of being "a racist."

The group was discussing the recent Gates controversy, and Beck exclaimed that Obama has "over and over again" exposed himself as "a guy who has a deep-seated hatred for white people or the white culture. I don't know what it is..."

When Fox's Brian Kilmeadeon pointed out that many people in Obama's administration are white, so "you can't say he doesn't like white people," Beck pressed on. "I'm not saying he doesn't like white people, I'm saying he has a problem," Beck said. "This guy is, I believe, a racist."




The question is What does Beck mean when he says "i'm not saying Obama doesn't like white people and yet Beck claims Obama is a racist. A racist is someone who extols the virtues of their race over that of other races. A racist brands or believes that the races are fundamentally different and that some races are better than others. A white supremacist may hate black people as a race and yet believe that some black people are exceptions to the rule.But Beck believes Obama is not a real American but has a hidden agenda to turn the US into some form of Fascist or Communist state or dictatorship in which whites are second class citizens and all who disagree will be put in the so-called Fema Camps for re-education .This is also all part of the New World Order conspiracy theory which Beck, Dobbs , Hannity et al promote as if these positions were rational and based upon actual evidence.

The "One Thing" as Beck would say is that he can't believe the American people willingly and knowingly put a black man into the presidency rather than Sarah Palin and what's his name -John McCain. Beck & Dobbs et al will not be happy until there is a widespread violent insurrection against the Obama administration.

Part of the racist slur against Obama is that most of what he has done is to further undermine White Control and supremacy in the U.S. to achieve some form of a radical Black agenda. So even the Health Care Bill has as one of its motivations "Reparations" for Black slavery, segregation, lynchings and unjust treatment of Blacks throughout American history. These conservative spokespersons still seemed a bit pissed off because the US government in the 1950s and 1960s tried to put an end to Segregation and the Jim Crow laws of the South. Whenever they speak about so called activist judges in many cases they are referring to Supreme Court rulings which went against racial segregation and upholding the rights of Black Americans to the right to vote and the right to enter schools and colleges which previously were not open to Black Americans etc.

Right Wing Attacks Collide: 'Racist' Obama Using Health Reform for Reparations by Peter Daou at Huffington Post, July 29,2009

In addition to the racial undertones of the birther movement, one theme gaining traction on the right in light of the Gates arrest is that Obama is racist:

Another attack line is that the push to reform the health care system is some nefarious plot by Obama to promote socialism, to bankrupt the country, or other such nonsense.

On Fox Nation, in an astounding stretch of imagination paranoia, they've gone one step further and merged both anti-Obama talking points.

Details from Newshounds:

At their "fair and balanced" website purportedly devoted to "tolerance," and "civil discourse," Fox Nation is suggesting that Obama's health care bill is a back door bill for slavery reparations. And yep, they suggest that white people will die as a result. The short Fox Nation post states: "Still believe in post-racial politics? Read the health care bill. It's affirmative action on steroids, deciding everything from who becomes a doctor to who gets treatment on the basis of skin color. President Obama is on the record as being officially opposed to reparations for slavery. But as with other issues, you have to sift through his eloquent rhetoric and go beyond the teleprompter to get at what he really means."

The original article linked to by Fox Nation is from IBD and concludes with this:

The racial grievance industry under health care reform could be calling the shots in the emergency room, the operating room, the medical room, even medical school. As Terence Jeffrey, editor at large of Human Events puts it, not only our wealth, but also our health will be redistributed.

Fox Nation is a well trafficked site and the article gets featured coverage, so this isn't some throwaway comment on a fringe blog.


and Chris Wallace & Don Imus question Lou Dobbs & CNN's motives for promoting the Racist Birthers::

Chris Wallace, Don Imus: Lou Dobbs Acting Like "Grassy Knoll Nut" by jason Linkins at Huffington Post , July 30, 2009

Lou Dobbs, whose flaxen locks change color and hue depending on how terrified he is that day of the coming Mexican reconquista, is all about the birthers now. And everyone is yelling at him, save his boss, Jon Klein, who's busy pretending that Dobbs is covering the controversy instead of fanning it. Who's yelling at him today? Chris Wallace and Don Imus, for starters!

Chris Wallace on Don Imus radio show:

WALLACE: You know, I guess what surprises me is that one of our competitors, I'm not going to say their name, but their initials are CNN, they're saying, well, we really can't decide for the public what a legitimate news story is, so we'll cover it; what if a bunch of people decided the earth is flat, we're now going to report that story and let people vent on that? That's what news organizations are about, is debunking and editing and deciding what's relevant and what's worth talking about, and what isn't, and clearly the birth certificate story isn't worth talking about because it isn't true. And I think to everybody's satisfaction it's been demonstrated it's not true. I'm a little surprised -- you know, I'm not surprised that people will do things, because some people will do something for ratings every time.


IMUS: Like, uh, I guess leading the charge is my friend, by the way, Lou Dobbs, who appears on this program on a regular basis, and I like -- love Lou, known him for years, but it makes him look like a grassy knoll nut.

WALLACE: Well, exactly, exactly. But either grassy knoll nut or just so calculating in his sense, well, there's some audience out there and I'll chase it.

IMUS: I can't believe Lou Dobbs would do that, do you?

WALLACE: Oh no, no --



and so it goes,
GORD.

Wednesday, July 29, 2009

Lou Dobbs: Obama Citizenship "Merely a Matter of Opinion" Meanwhile Dobbs Claims There is a Left Wing Conspiracy Against Him

"This is essentially the same thing as if in 2002 a top CNN anchor had demanded that the Bush administration prove it didn't demolish the WTC". Lawyers, Guns, and Money Blog.

“It’s racist. Just call it for what it is.”

— MSNBC president Phil Griffin

UPDATE: 1:47 PM & 2:22 PM & 2:41 PM July 29, 2009 The Birther Conspiracy Theorists Lou Dobbs has been promulgating various Wingnut Conspiracy Theories for years and has gotten away with it time and again.

Conspiracy Theorist Dobbs Discredits CNN
Media Matters.org July 29, 2009





Lou Dobbs argues questions raised about Obama's citizenship legitimate and the whole issue is a matter of opinion and not a matter of fact.

Lou Dobbs upset he claims that "left Wing groups" are attacking him unfairly. Poor multi-millionaire racist conservative anti-Obama Lou Dobbs is in his view the only voice of reason on TV even though he has created an environment of doubt about Obama's birth certificate and whether or not he is the legitimate president of the United States. Dobbs thinks he is out of the woods as it were by saying in his purposely nuanced manner " that in his opinion Barack Obama is an American citizen". Note he says "in his opinion" which means that he can not say with absolute certainty that Obama is an American citizen thereby giving himself and his viewers a great deal of wiggle room. So the whole issue is framed as being uncertain and a matter of opinion. Like other conservative anti-Obama media personalities Lou Dobbs denies he is fueling the right wing anti-Obama extremists. So he comes up with a half-baked sort of explanation which just muddies the waters more as he gives a wink and a nod to the lunatic fringe. Meanwhile what his viewers hear is tha their hero Lou Dobbs is being attacked on this issue and others for exercising his right to freedom of speech and the freedom of the press.



Lou Dobbs defends his Birther Remarks on Obama with new documents July 29, 2009



Donny Deutsch Calls Birthers "Hate-Mongering" "Fear-Mongering" "Racists" on MSNBC
July 28,2009




Klein Puts CNN's "Most Trusted" Brand at Risk by Eric E. Burns at Huffington Post, July 27


On July 23, CNN president Jon Klein acted like the head of a serious news network. On July 24, he acted like an intern for Lou Dobbs.

During the previous week, Dobbs had breathed new life -- and, as a CNN anchor, unprecedented legitimacy -- into a long-discredited conspiracy theory concerning the details of President Obama's birth. Other CNN hosts roundly debunked accusations that Obama wasn't born on U.S. soil. In fact, Kitty Pilgrim, who guest-hosted Lou Dobbs Tonight on July 17, used her time in his chair to do just that, stating, "CNN has fully investigated the issue, [and] found no basis for the questions about the president's birthplace." And yet Dobbs persisted. On July 20, he reported on the story again, summing it up this way: "A lot of questions remaining, and seemingly, the questions won't go away because they haven't been dealt with ... straightforwardly and quickly."

While Dobbs said that he personally believed Obama was a citizen, he had fueled the "birther" fringe by repeatedly complaining that Obama had yet to produce an original birth certificate listing a doctor and hospital.

..."Look, Lou's his own show," he told reporter and blogger Greg Sargent on July 24, the same day that Dobbs used his nationally syndicated radio program to ask, "Where is that birth certificate? Why hasn't it been forthcoming?" Klein wrote off Dobbs' critics -- not those pushing the conspiracy -- as biased partisans. "I understand that people with a partisan point of view from one extreme or another might get annoyed that certain subjects are aired." He reportedly claimed Dobbs' coverage amounted to "a few conversations with people representing a wide range of opinions." Klein also told Sargent that Dobbs was under no pressure to stop reporting the story. "I think no good journalist would ever say that a particular story will never be covered again. Every day brings new facts, new pegs."

...By saying one thing in private and another in public, Klein has blown a huge hole in CNN's credibility. CNN likes to characterize itself on air as "the most trusted name in news." But how can viewers trust anything from a network whose president deems "legitimate" the promotion of questions that even many conservatives have dismissed as lunacy, and their proponents "nutburgers"?

An April 27 New York Times article reported that Klein touted what he said was the network's commitment to high journalistic standards, differentiating it from its competitors. "We would do ourselves a disservice if we thought that our main competitors were the other so-called cable news networks," he said. "They don't have journalists on in prime time." He also expressed discomfort with Dobbs' highly opinionated style and implied that changes were under way. "If you watch Lou's show, he's doing more of a straight newscast than he's ever done before."

And, yet, notwithstanding Klein's dismissal of "the other so-called cable news networks," it was left to Phil Griffin, the president of MSNBC, to state the truth about the whole birther movement. "It's racist," said Griffin, according to The New York Times. "It's racist. Just call it for what it is."

Klein has a lot of questions to answer.


The next day, he went a step further, telling the L.A. Times that Dobbs' broadcasts had been, simply put, "legitimate."

From "dead" to "legitimate" in less than 48 hours.

Klein owes CNN's viewers an explanation. Does he harbor any doubt that President Obama is a U.S.-born citizen? Assuming he doesn't -- and his July 23 email was pretty definitive on that score -- what about the story, and Dobbs' actions, could possibly be considered legitimate?


"The Birthers in Congress: Seventeen men and women who are either enabling the fringe movement or having trouble admitting Obama is president" By Gabriel Winant Salon.com,July 28,2009

Salon has here in its (virtual) hand a list of 17 names of members of Congress who have either expressed support for, or refused to oppose, the idea that America has a foreign president problem. You'd be surprised how hard it is to get a member of Congress to say that Barack Obama is a natural-born citizen with the right to be president. Or maybe you wouldn't. Meet the Birthers on the Hill:

For Example:

...Rep. John Campbell, R-Calif.: Though he wasn't the first member of Congress to board the birther train, Campbell is perhaps the most infamous, thanks to an interview on the topic with an unamused Chris Matthews. Campbell cites the same talking points -- Romney, Goldwater and McCain -- as Posey did. "Nice try," responds Matthews, who then showed him the president's birth certificate. "You're verifying the paranoia out there. You're saying to the people, 'You're right, that's a reasonable question, whether he's a citizen or not.'"

...Sen. Jim Inhofe, R-Okla.: Probably the know-nothingest member of the Senate, Inhofe thinks climate change is "the greatest hoax ever perpetrated on the American people." Coming in second, presumably, is the current fraudulent presidency. The Oklahoma conservative recently told Politico that the Birthers "have a point," adding, "I don't discourage it ... But I'm going to pursue defeating [Obama] on things that I think are very destructive to America." In a later clarification, he accused the White House of not doing "a very good job of dispelling the concerns of these citizens."

Sen. Richard Shelby, R-Ala.: Asked about the president's eligibility at an Alabama town hall meeting back in February, Shelby said, "Well, his father was Kenyan and they said he was born in Hawaii, but I haven't seen any birth certificate. You have to be born in America to be president." Almost immediately afterward, his spokesperson was saying that the local paper had distorted what happened, adding, "While [Shelby] hasn't personally seen the president's birth certificate, he is confident that the matter has been thoroughly examined."

Rep. Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn.: This Tennessee politician, a co-sponsor of the Posey bill, trusts that the president is a natural-born citizen, says a spokesperson. She just thinks it's mighty odd that candidates for office don't have to meet "the same basic identifying standard as a 16-year-old Tennessean aspiring to a driver's license." Obviously, as government bloats and journalism withers, the DMV is much easier to trick than the international media.


and see:

Birther Conspiracy Theory Going Global
" ‘Birther Movement’ conspiracy theory persists that Obama is not US citizen" THE GUARDIAN, WASHINGTON Jul 30, 2009

“It’s racist. Just call it for what it is.”

— MSNBC president Phil Griffin

It’s not because the president is black, of course. It’s because those upstanding Americans who cheered as US President Barack Obama’s predecessor rode roughshod over the Constitution in his “war on terror” have found a new enthusiasm for a strict adherence to the US’ supreme law. Specifically, they’re interested in a clause requiring the president to be born a natural-born citizen (although that doesn’t mean to say that they’re not still worried that Obama is secretly Muslim).

A long-brewing conspiracy theory has it that Obama entered this world as a subject of the British crown in east Africa because his father was Kenyan. A Hawaii birth certificate and birth notices in the Honolulu press went some way to dampen the feverish speculation when it emerged during Obama’s election campaign.

But now the issue has returned with a vengeance, driven in part by a high-profile CNN presenter, right-wing talk radio and a video of a woman haranguing her Republican congressman, prompting her supporters to recite the pledge of allegiance. Now, members of Congress are sponsoring a bill to require all future presidential candidates to show their birth certificates.


‘Birther’ Boom By Eric Etheridge July 22, 2009

“Slowly but surely, this meme is going mainstream,” says Allpundit.

“Did Lou Dobbs really GO THERE? Seriously? This is getting absurd,” says the First Read team at MSNBC.

Six months into his presidency, the charge that Barack Obama is — literally — un-American is gaining not losing steam. Yes, the Birther bump is growing.

Need some backstory? Allow The Atlantic’s Marc Ambinder to explain: “Birthers, for the uninitiated, is a term used by the media to ridicule those who believe that the president’s Hawaiian birth certificate is fake and that because he was ostensibly born in Kenya, not the United States, he was never eligible to be president in the first place.”


"Lou Dobbs: Birther" at Lawyers,Guns and Money blog, July 21, 2009

also see: "BREAKING: Lou Dobbs’ Birth Certificate a Fake!" From The Left. Wordpress.com, July 28, 2009

and:
Petition CNNs Dobbs problem



As we have seen since Obama's inauguration the Republicans have been the Party of No and so are against anything the Obama administration says or does. As Monty Python once pointed merely saying "NO" or contradicting or naysaying whatever someone says is not a "real argument". Or as someone else pointed out it is like Groucho Marx's song " Whatever it is I'm against it ".

The anti-Obama faction in the United States is more than willing to distort the facts about policy and legislation of the Obama administration. For the Republicans and conservatives and their racist base they see the election of Obama as a declaration of war against traditional America an attack on its institutions and on American values. These values include racism, homophobia , sexism and elitism and Nativism and hyper-patriotism. They believe in My country right or wrong except when in their view a black man usurps the presidency. There is a segment of the American population who can not reconcile the fact that a black was elected legally to be president and the Republicans and their ultra-conservative Media spokespersons see nothing wrong in stirring up this sort of racism and paranoia.

People For The American Way has sent out a bulletin to clarify the confusion and lies and distortions of the Republicans and the conservative echo chamber concerning the "Hate Crimes Bill". When the Mainstream Media becomes saturated with this right wing propaganda it is difficult to counter act with facts and the truth since all such attempts on the part of Obama supporters is characterized as being being left-wing propaganda. For example the Hate Crimes Bill is characterized as being part of a hidden agenda according to the Right wing . The laws purpose they claim is to push forward the evil homosexual agenda and as a means to stop Christian ministers or pastors from calling Homosexuality as a sin etc. They make wild accusations that such a law would in fact protect sexual perversion or sexual deviance such as paedophilia . But they ignore the fact that this is not true and that paedophilia, or Necrophilia or sex with animals and other forms of sexual deviance are covered under other statutes as criminal acts. But a conservative or a Republican never allows facts get in the way of their opinions and beliefs or their wacky "Conspiracy Thories".

"As Senate Prepares to Take Up Hate Crimes Bill, Far Right’s Inflammatory Claims Should Not Be Taken Seriously" Lies should be refuted as a matter of record,
but demonstrably false and ridiculous attacks deserve to be dismissed Right Wing Watch People for the American Way


and so it goes,
GORD.

Tuesday, July 28, 2009

Lou Dobbs Support of "The Birthers Conspiracy Theory " Is Seen as Inflammatory by Media Matters and The Southern Povert Law Center etc.



UPDATE: 11:37 AM July 28, 2009

"Rather than correct the record in response to criticism of his coverage of birther theories, Dobbs has lashed out at "lily-livered lefties" who criticized him because he "had the temerity to inquire as to where the birth certificate was." He even claims a "national left-wing media conspiracy" is attacking him over the birther issue." Media Matters

CNN has defended Lou Dobbs' support of "The Birthers" as legitimate.
Media Matters has issued a statement criticizing CNN and Lou Dobbs insisting CNN take responsibility and curb Lou Dobbs' promotion of "The Birther" conspiracy theory as being inflammatory and an attack on President Obama.
Media Matters has a petition posted on line to be sent to CNN demanding CNN take action.

Southern Poverty Law Center has called for Lou Dobbs' resignation in their concern that Lou Dobbs' has been involved in an on going promotion and thereby lending some credence to various fringe "Conspiracy Theories including "The Birthers" and suggesting Obama has some sort of anti-American hidden agenda. SPLC also accuses Dobbs'of fear mongering about illegal and legal immigrants arguing that these immigrants are destroying American society bringing disease and crime and immorality to America but Dobbs' argument is not supported by the facts. Though these days Fox News and CNN are little interested in facts but prefer sensationalism and fear mongering and acting as propagandists for the Republican Party, conservatives, Nativists and racists and bigots.

CNN 's president Jon Klein argues that the Birther issue is legitimate since there are those who have doubts about Obama's American citizenship . Klein doesn't seem to realize or just doesn't care that giving a Media platform for this and other "Conspiracy Theories" is fueling the extreme right which could lead to violence . Though as has been suggested by Maddow and others is that what once were the crazy Conspiracy Theories of the lunatic fringe are now more and more becoming part of the mainstream Media & the Republican Party.

When we combine the inflammatory statements of Religious Right leaders such as the anti-abortionist Pro-Life spokesperson Randall Terry of "Operation Rescue " with that of CNN and Fox News almost daily attacking President Obama and his administration as destroying traditional American society this will almost certainly lead to more demonstrations and violent acts against Obama or his supporters. Randall Terry has called for "an Insurrection" while Liz Cheney for instanceclaims that Obama has left the United States undefended and vulnerable to "terrorist Attacks" and Glenn Beck, Limbaugh , Hannity etc. have been adding to this toxic brew against Obama over the past year .

It was hoped that much of irresponsible fear mongering about Obama would go away once Obama was elected as president . But it appears those conservative who are upset about the election of Barack Obama will use any sort of argument including those of what was the lunatic fringe to stir up more hatred and suspicion about Obama even if this were to lead to the unthinkable the assassination of president Obama. They are willing to use all and any means to remove Obama from the presidency or at least make it almost impossible to carry out any of his policies.


Surprisingly even the foaming at the mouth hyper-patriot, anti-Obama Bill O'Reilly has criticized Lou Dobbs'for lending support to "the Birthers". But then O'Reilly claims that Dobbs has the right to say whatever he wants to .

O'Reilly slams Dobbs' "absurd story" on Obama birth certificate, but says he shouldn't be fired
July 27, 2009 From the July 27 edition of Fox News' The O'Reilly Factor:




Citing Dobbs, Maddow says "CNN's helping" move birth certificate story from "the fringe into the mainstream"July 27, 2009
From the July 27th edition of MSNBC's Rachel Maddow Show:




Media Matters Petition CNNs Dobbs problem




Recently, CNN's Lou Dobbs has repeatedly used his prominent platform as a prime-time host on CNN, as well as his daily nationally syndicated radio show, to legitimize paranoid conspiracy theories about President Barack Obama's birth certificate. Despite the fact that these fringe ideas have been thoroughly debunked, he continues to mainstream extreme right-wing rhetoric by asserting that Obama needs to "produce a birth certificate" and giving birther conspiracies airtime on his shows.

In response to Dobbs' relentless trafficking in these fringe conspiracy theories, CNN President Jon Klein initially declared the story "dead," saying anyone who "is not convinced doesn't really have a legitimate beef." But less than 24 hours later, Klein caved in to Dobbs, reversing himself completely. He even went so far as to reportedly call Dobb's coverage of the birther movement "legitimate."

Klein's caving to Dobbs raises a serious, troubling question: Who is really calling the shots at CNN? We need your help today to publicly pressure CNN credibly address its Dobbs problem.

Contrary to Klein's description of Dobbs' birth certificate coverage as "legitimate," CNN's own hosts have debunked and ridiculed the story as "ludicrous," "nutty," and "conspiratorial."

Nevertheless, Dobbs has repeatedly claimed on both his television and radio shows that President Obama has failed to adequately address the claims of birther conspiracy theorists. He has said that Obama needs to "produce a birth certificate" and that the birth certificate the president posted online more than a year ago has "some issues." Rather than correct the record in response to criticism of his coverage of birther theories, Dobbs has lashed out at "lily-livered lefties" who criticized him because he "had the temerity to inquire as to where the birth certificate was." He even claims a "national left-wing media conspiracy" is attacking him over the birther issue.

We need to present CNN with an overwhelming public response to Dobbs' relentless promotion of these conspiracy theories tinged with racism.

So, please sign the following petition today and demand that CNN address its Lou Dobbs problem in a credible manner.



Banner

Take Action: Tell CNN To Address Their Lou Dobbs Problem

CNN's Dobbs Problem Just Got Bigger: Media Matters Calls on Public to Pressure 'The Most Trusted Name In News' MediaMatters,July 25

- July 27 - After CNN President Jon Klein reportedly called Lou Dobbs' coverage of conspiracy theories about President Obama's birth certificate "legitimate" on Friday, July 24, Media Matters for America President Eric Burns sent an email to its thousands of online activists today asking for their help to publicly pressure CNN to credibly address its Lou Dobbs problem.

...Contrary to Klein's description of Dobbs' birth certificate coverage as "legitimate," CNN's own hosts have debunked and ridiculed the story as "ludicrous," "nutty," and "conspiratorial."

Nevertheless, Dobbs has repeatedly claimed on both his television and radio shows that President Obama has failed to adequately address the claims of birther conspiracy theorists. He has said that Obama needs to "produce a birth certificate" and that the birth certificate the president posted online more than a year ago has "some issues." Rather than correct the record in response to criticism of his coverage of birther theories, Dobbs has lashed out at "lily-livered lefties" who criticized him because he "had the temerity to inquire as to where the birth certificate was." He even claims a "national left-wing media conspiracy" is attacking him over the birther issue.


Dobbs 2, CNN 0: CNN president Klein reportedly calls Dobbs' birther coverage "legitimate" July 25, 2009 by Media Matters staff

From a July 25 Los Angeles Times article:

CNN/U.S. President Jon Klein told staffers of "Lou Dobbs Tonight" on Thursday that the controversy regarding the legitimacy of President Obama's birth certificate -- a topic Dobbs has avidly pursued on the air -- is a "dead" story.

But in an interview, the cable news chief left open the possibility that Dobbs may continue to raise questions about why the president has not produced a long-form birth certificate. The absence of such a record has spawned rumors that Obama was not born in the United States, despite plenty of evidence to the contrary.

"He's got more than 30 years as a television journalist, and I trust him, as I trust all our reporters and anchors, to exercise their judgment as various stories evolve," Klein said of Dobbs, whose daily CNN program is a mix of news and opinion.

On Friday, the Southern Poverty Law Center called on CNN to fire Dobbs for trading in "racist conspiracy theories." And some of Dobbs' staff at CNN have told him and network executives that they are uncomfortable with his persistent focus on the story.

Klein defended Dobbs, saying that the host's treatment of the so-called "birther" movement has been "legitimate."


and for a more humorous take on Lou Dobbs And The Birthers:

"BREAKING: Lou Dobbs’ Birth Certificate a Fake!" From The Left. Wordpress.com, July 28, 2009


CNN’s very own Lou “I hate Mexican” Dobbs, the vocal champion of the birther movement, Mexican-born? Is it possible? Yes, not only is it possible but it’s true.

Dobbs’ place of birth has always been difficult to pin down. One biographical source says he was born in Childress, Texas, while another says Rupert, Idaho, but neither turns out to be factual.


Louis Dobbs was born in in the small town of Delicias, in the Mexican state of Chihuahua. That’s right — MEXICO. He was later smuggled into the U.S. by his Texas propane salesman father, Frank Dobbs, who kept the truth of his son’s south-of-the-border origins a secret, even from Lou himself.

Lou Dobbs only learned about his Mexican birth in adolescence, and would spend the rest of his adult life desperately trying to cover up the truth.


His Texas birth certificate, while not an all-out forgery which contains the details. A closer examination of the document reveals an asterisk that points the way to the truth.

This startling revelation will surely outrage his legions of admirers who tune in each night to watch and hear their anti-immigration crusader rant and rave about our “Our Broken Borders” and the evil of the influx of Mexican illegals into American society.



and for example see:

"Lou Dobbs: Birther" at Lawyers,Guns and Money blog, July 21, 2009

Hey, all he wants are some answers.

This is essentially the same thing as if in 2002 a top CNN anchor had demanded that the Bush administration prove it didn't demolish the WTC.

I don't think that guy would have kept his job though.


and so it goes,
GORD.

Monday, July 27, 2009

Republicans Stoking Racial Resentment; Update The Family/"C" Street & Family Values' Sen. Paul Stanley's Sex Scandal

update: 1:38 PM July 27, 2009
Update The Family
Republicans Stoking racial resentment



Update from Rachel Maddow on "The Family"/AKA The Fellowship or "C" Street or "The Cedars" a secretive extremist right wing Evangelical cult to which a number of prominent US and foreign politicians, political leaders and CEOs belong to.

Rachel Maddow: Republican's "C-Street" Cult Update-July 23,2009



Rachell Maddow: Republicans cling to strategy of racism July 25,2009

Lacking anything constructive to offer to the health care reform deliberations, Republicans are trying to shore up their base by stoking racial resentment. Rachel Maddow is joined by Princeton University professor Melissa Harris-Lacewell.



Obama may want to forget and forgive the Bush Regime for its " Crimes" but others are more concerned with justice being done.

"Secrets of CIA 'Ghost Flights' to be Revealed: Guantánamo detainee's lawyers hail UK air firm's U-turn that allows rendition case to go to court" by Jamie Doward Guardian UK July 26, via Common Dreams.org


GOP Christian Senator: "Sex For Me, But Not For Thee"-July 26,2009
Fornication is a terrible thing for these kids...grown-up adultery...not so much.



Family Values Republican Busted For Banging Intern
Watch more at http://www.theyoungturks.com




Senator Paul Stanley Family Values GOP Extramarital affairs with Young Interns
Yet Another GOP Family Values Representative Rears His [sic] Other Head

Let us pray. State Sen. Paul Stanley (R-Memphis) will resign his chairmanship of the Senate Commerce Committee tomorrow, NashvillePost.com has learned, in the wake of the revelation that he was the subject of an attempted blackmail scheme over a sexual relationship with an intern in his office.




Obamas First 100 Days Review-Ralph Reed etc.
Early Line political analysts, including John Dickerson, Dee Dee Myers and GOP consultant Ralph Reed, speak with Erica Hill about the ups and downs of President Obamas first 100 days in office.



and so it goes,
GORD.

Sunday, July 26, 2009

Randall Terry Warns Obama Of Increase in Demonstrations and Widespread Violence and Insurrection By the Pro-Life Movement

Randall Terry blatantly and openly calling for an Insurrection against Obama if the health Care Reform bill passes. Once again the Religious Right shows their disdain for Democratic government and institutions . Terry and other Religious Right leaders believe their anti-abortion movement and other causes are pro-Christian and Pro-American which are based upon Biblical Principles which are part of God's Law. If they are God's Law then any action taken is necessary to fight against the Godless Liberals and to defend God's Law.

Insurrecta Nex (latin for Revolution against the slaughter of the innocent.)
Banner from Randall Terry's Overturn Roe.com



Randall Terry: There Could be Violent Retribution for Healthcare Bill
Watch the complete show at http://www.theyoungturks.com. July 24,2009




Bill Maher , Naomi Klein ,
There Is An Evangelical Cancer In The Military!-May 8,2009




Randall Terry of Operation Rescue claims the New Health Care Reforms of the Obama administration if passed will mean that the US government will be paying the cost for abortions. Therefore he believes the government will be culpable in the killing of babies and so should be resisted even to the point of violence.


"Intro clip to Randall Terry's new activist training video series"

"6-18-09 //Washington, D.C.// Movie intro to Randall Terry's new 14 episode TV series Insurrecta Nex (latin for Revolution against the slaughter of the innocent.) The series focuses on the "playbook" from past American social revolutions, i.e. Boston Tea, Abolitionists, Suffragettes, Civil rights movement, etc., and applies them to today's fight against child killing. To learn more go to: www.OverturnRoe.com"




and see: http://www.overturnroe.com/"> Overturn Roe.com



Anyway Randall Terry of the Pro-Life anti-abortionist organization Operation Rescue in a recent press conference warned of increasing opposition to Obama's administration's passing of legislation which he believes is pro-abortion . But Terry goes further suggesting that if these pro-abortion policies continue then no one should blame him or his organization for acts of civil disobedience or even acts of violence against abortion clinics or abortion providers for the blame should go to the Obama administration for pushing American citizens who are pro-life into a corner.


"Randall Terry Warns of "Random Acts of Violence" over Healthcare Legislation "By Christian Right Wing Watch, July 21, 2009

At a typical Randall Terry press conference one can expect to hear all sorts of overheated rhetoric about abortion – that it’s murder, that abortion clinics are places of "mass genocide," and so forth. But in recent weeks, he has amped up his rhetoric to insane new heights over the healthcare legislation before Congress, which he claims would pay for “child-killing.”

Earlier this week Terry called for the rejection of the bill and warned of "violent convulsions" of a level that hasn't been seen since the Civil War if the bill is passed

At today’s press conference, however, Terry was quick to point out that he has supposedly been a "non-violent" leader for 25 years, and he ridiculed those who accuse him and other right-wing leaders of "stirring up domestic terrorism”:




Randall Terry Warning of Acts Of Violence



Randall Terry Imitates Liberals and accuses them of causing Pro-lifers to fight back by any and all means necessary



Meanwhile Ralph Reed is attempting to revive his position as one of the leaders of the Religious Right

Ralph Reed's Key To Success: Be More Strident By Kyle |Right Wing Watch July 22, 2009

Just yesterday I wrote a post explaining that, thanks to the recent announcement that he was heading a new Religious Right organization known as the Faith and Freedom Coalition, Ralph Reed appeared to be "succeeding in resurrecting his reputation and re-establishing himself as a bona fide leader of the Religious Right."

And, despite the fact that this new effort currently consists entirely of Reed, one adviser, one actual employee, and a bare-bones website, I think it is safe to say that the "Ralph Reed Redemption Tour" is officially underway now that he is getting long profiles written up by the Associated Press:

"... Reed said his organization is looking to be more inclusive by reaching out to Jews, Hispanics, blacks and any other group receptive to a fiscal conservative message.

"It's going to look different from the vehicles we have now. It's going to be younger, it's going to be more strident," he said. "It's going to be principled but less ideologically reflexive. And it's going to have a broader issues agenda."



and see: Palin's Faith, Instant Forgiveness and God-Ordained Prosperity: Exploring Pentacostal Ideology By Anthea Butler, Religion Dispatches.AlterNet Posted July 25, 2009.

When God is treated like "on-demand cable," the most fervent believers will have trouble adhering to basic rules of propriety, let alone values.

and so it goes,
GORD

Saturday, July 25, 2009

Obama and the Birthers -Republicans Opening the Door to the Lunatic Fringe To Undermine Obama or Worse?

Today's Topics

The lunatic fringe Conspiracy Theory "birthers " going mainstream
Republicans, conservatives and some notables in the Media seriously question the election of Barack Obama as being the will of the people
Is Obama the Manchurian Candidate working for Islam, or the New World Order
Has Obama been able to hypnotize Americans into believing in him and his policies

Anyway the Republicans and some in the U.S. Mainstream Media finding it difficult in opposing specific policies of the Obama administration appears to be adopting fringe "conspiracy theories" such as that of the "Birthers" in order to stir up distrust of President Obama. The basic premise of the Birthers is that Obama was not born in the United States and is therefore not a legitimate president but rather a fraud and a usurper of the presidency. The Birthers believe that if Obama is not the legitimate president of the United States he therefore should be removed from office through whatever legal means necessary. If Obama is not replaced legally then some other means should be used to remove him from office in a similar manner for instance as President Zelaya of Honduras was removed from office by a Coup.

If Obama is not removed then according to the "Birthers" and others who see Obama as not a real-American as a foreigner with a hidden agenda to dramatically change the United States to make it into a "Socialist, Communist, Collectivist , fascist dictatorship " and therefore should be removed from office by any means necessary. Does this mean that the Republicans and conservatives and their enablers would be just as happy if there were to be coup or some sort of non-violent mass insurrection or even a violent insurrection. This sounds a bit extreme but Obama's opponents and Republican leaders and the media are adding fuel to stir up the right wing extremists to demand some form of action.

But for instance Liz Cheney has said that" one of the reasons you see people so concerned about this, I think this issue is, people are uncomfortable with having for the first time ever, I think, a president who seems so reluctant to defend the nation overseas ..."- so she is insinuating not just that Obama may not have conclusive proof of being an American citizen but that his actions appear to that of someone who is anti-American and possibly working on behalf of foreign interests such as Islamic nations or for The New World Order etc.

By feeding into such doubts about Obama the Republicans and conservatives are hoping to turn the Obama presidency into a lame duck presidency or to force the Obama administration to waste its time and energy into fighting over such a smear campaign. Liz Cheney and others are encouraging the belief that Obama would not be formulating policies or making the speeches he has in foreign countries if he were a "Real America". So it is this notion that Obama in deeds and actions is an alien presence working against America's interests.

By giving credence to the Birthers it also opens the door for other Conspiracy theories involving Obama which were considered part of the thinking of the lunatic fringe but now they can go mainstream with their "conspiracy theories" for example Obama is not just not a " real American" but is rather a Manchurian candidate working with foreign nations or groups as a "secret Muslim",as an infiltrator for the New World Order.

So the Republicans are quite willing to give credence to such conspiracy theories which in many cases are really just the result of racism, Nativism and Xenophobia. As Pat Buchanan for instance has said America was built by White Men not African-Americans or Hispanics or Asians or Middle Easterners in America. At the core of these attitudes is that there is asegment of the American population who are unable to accept that a Black man manged to get elected as President of the United States.

CNN's Rick Sanchez Takes On "Obama Birthers" In Congress
July 22,2009



Dr. Maddow Slays CNN's Right-Wing Hate-Merchant Dobb's Birther BS
July 22,2009
(Via http://www.mediamatters.org ) Maddow responds to Dobbs' advancement of "birther" conspiracies.




Liz Cheney
Liz Cheney speaks out in defense of birthers movement and Alex Jones
July 22,2009



Liz Cheney Defends Birthers On Larry King (VIDEO) Rachel Weiner, Huffington Post July 22,2009

The Obama "birther" movement has sucked in a few Republican congressmen. But Tuesday night the conspiracy theorists who think our president isn't a citizen got a major boost from none other than Elizabeth Cheney, former State Department official and vice-presidential daughter.

Birthers took hits on television earlier in the day, after a YouTube video of one such extremist confronting Rep. Mike Castle (R-Del.) at a public event. CNN's Rick Sanchez spent a whole segment debunking the fantasy, and MSNBC's Chris Matthews confronted a congressman sponsoring a bill that "would require future presidential candidates to provide a copy of their original birth certificate."

Cheney was apparently unmoved. Appearing on "Larry King," she dismissed the Castle video and suggested that people have reason to question Obama's national loyalty.

"I think the Democrats have got more crazies than the Republicans do," Cheney said. "But setting that aside, one of the reasons you see people so concerned about this, I think this issue is, people are uncomfortable with having for the first time ever, I think, a president who seems so reluctant to defend the nation overseas ..."


Charles Pierce Slams Mainstream Media For Promoting Liz Cheney, Obama 'Birthers' Movement by Nicholas Graham,
July 24 at Huffington Post




and so it goes,
GORD.

Friday, July 24, 2009

Zelaya and the Honduran People Betrayed By President Obama , Hillary Clinton and Prime Minister Stephen Harper- Selling out To The Rich and Powerful

UPDATE: 12:44 AM, 12:38 PM July 24, 2009

DN! Coup Regime Rejects Own Negotiators Proposal on Zelaya Return
July 22, 2009




Honduran Constitution was American made to serve the interests of the United States and their corrupt minions in Honduras.So the Honduran constitution was made in America for the rich and powerful who believe Honduras 'resources belong to them and that workers in general should be denied their basic rights of a fair wage and proper working conditions etc. But Clinton and others who are connected to The Family or adhere to the Prosperity Gospel believe that it is those who are rich and powerful ; the so-called righteous who are to make the laws or is just greed defending their investments .

"The 1982 constitution – which Zelaya wanted to change – was passed under the close scrutiny of the US ambassador in Honduras at the time, John Negroponte. He is a sinister figure, who later became US ambassador to Iraq after the invasion, and then Bush’s National Security Adviser."
Quote from: Mike Gonzalez, SocialistWorkeronline,July 21,2009

Canadian Government Favors Canadian Mining Industry in Honduras and against real Democracy
Canada as anti-Democratic as American Neocons and their cousins the Neo-liberals.



Coup plotters' fear isn't losing power to Zelaya or Chavez, it's losing power to Hondurans

The Real News Network examines what is really going on in Honduras which contradicts the conservative media in the U.S. and Canada and their respective governments . At the end of the day Canada and the U.S. are anti-democratic if more participatory democracy will erode profits of the multinationals. President Obama and Prime Minister Harper have received the talking points from the Lobbyist who represent Big Oil, Big Coal and the mining interests. So Obama is unable to help American citizens whose lives have been disrupted whose health is being compromised by Mountain Top Removal Mining and strip mining . Obama is no more willing to take on Big Coal or Big Oil than he is willing to stand up to the big pharmaceutical companies for example. It is the Lobbyist and the rich and powerful who call the shots not the President or the people. Most of the Senaate and congress in the US like many members of the Canadian Parliament & upper echelon bureaucrats have sold their souls to the highest bidder.

Canadian Gold Corp given carte blanche in Honduras paying subsistence wages while destroying the environment

Gold Corp and other foreign run corporations paying peasants to take part in so called "pro-Democracy Pro-Coup demonstrations. Rich and powerful are above the law in Honduras as they often are in Canada and the United States. The Canadian refuses to take seriously the environmental distaste taking place in the Tar Sands/Oil Sands anymore than the United States government wants to evaluate realistically and the harm being done in the Appalachians to the environment and its impact on the health of the peoples of Appalachia . Big Coal and Big Oil and other Big corporations their profit margins and the health of their stocks are a number one priority of the respective countries and so trump the environment and the health of the citizens of Canada , the United States or Honduras or Burma or any other country. Profits is what the Neocons( Fascists elitists who hate everybody) and the Neoliberals ( conservatives who only think they are liberals- self-deluded or con-artists) hold as sacred and that the rights of companies and corporations come before the environment or the health or the aspirations of the people .



The Global Report July 22, 2009
Honduran Coup made in America with the help of John McCain this would not be that surprising he was involved in the Iran-contra scandal and was a staunch defender of Apartheid South Africa



It appears Obama is starting a pattern in Latin America one which is in favor of keeping the old tried true policies which means ignoring the wishes of the people of Latin America in favor of keeping and start reversing the trend towards real democracy.




President Zelaya of Honduras blames President Obama and Hillary Clinton for the ongoing crisis in Honduras. If they took action the coup leaders and helped Zelaya to return to Honduras the crisis would quickly end. Zelaya was not attemting to set up a virtual dictatorship but rather wanted to have the Honduran constitution changed according to the will of the Honduran people and just the will of the rich and powerful and the influential corrupt anti-democratic foreign corporations such as the Canadian run Gold Corp.

" Honduras's ousted president calls for UN, US action "MADRID, SPAIN , Mail& Guardian online. July 21, 2009

Honduras' ousted president has called on the international community, including the United Nations and the United States, to support him in returning to power in his country after crisis talks broke down.

"The international community must set a precedent so that there is no repeat of this and so that coup d'etats become a thing of the past and those who try it are punished," Manuel Zelaya was quoted as saying in an interview with Spanish daily El Mundo.

El Mundo said it interviewed Zelaya at the Honduras embassy in Managua. The president left Honduras after a military coup, which has installed Robert Micheletti as president.

Governments around the world have called for Zelaya's return to power and are shunning the new de facto government, but Micheletti said on Monday he would never allow Zelaya's reinstatement.

Asked whether the situation would end if the US were to intervene diplomatically, Zelaya said: "Immediately. This will be over in the blink of an eye once the United States takes clear steps against those behind the coup."

US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has already warned Micheletti that he could face cuts in economic aid unless he strikes a deal with his enemy.

The ousted leader, an ally of Venezuela's socialist President Hugo Chávez, did not state exactly what action he wanted the international community to take although he said countries like Spain could cancel bank accounts, suspend visas and trips to members of the regime.

Failed talks held by Costa Rica's President Oscar Arias to broker an end to the Honduras power struggle had revealed the "arrogant, military and fascist" nature of those who had seized power, Zelaya said.

"Those responsible for the coup have laughed in the face of the Honduran people, of the international community and of Oscar Arias.


Honduras Coup supported by Republicans, former Bush Regime personnel and Hillary Clinton and her corporate friends & cronies. Is Obama surrounded by Anti-Democratic Neoliberals and Neocons who want to maintain the status quo in Latin America if not reverse any moves towards democracy which have been accomplished over the lat twenty years. These corporate interests and supporters want American corporate interests and America's hegemony in Latin America restored. They want to also send a message to Latin American countries that they must begin to tow the party line of American interests and ignore the needs and aspirations of their own people . In essence President Zelaya and Chvez and their supporters are seen as a threat to the American Empire.

"Challenging the coup in Honduras" by Mike Gonzalez, SocialistWorkeronline,July 21,2009

Trade unions, farmers, student organisations and social movements have called a general strike in Honduras for Thursday of this week. The protest movement has continued and grown since the 28 June coup, despite increasingly brutal repression and the murder of several demonstrators by the army.

During the coup president Manuel Zelaya was taken from his home and dumped on an airfield in neighbouring Costa Rica. The government that emerged from the coup is supported by the judiciary, the armed forces, the Church, and the employers' organisations – and that fact tells its own eloquent story.

What none of them expected, was the level of mass resistance that the coup has provoked.

The immediate cause of the coup was Zelaya’s decision to hold a referendum that the could lead to a change in the constitution. He had also raised the minimum wage some months earlier. And perhaps most importantly, he had begun to appear at the side of Hugo Chavez at the meetings of ALBA, the Latin American regional organisation promoted by the Venezuelan president.

Venezuela is supplying cheap oil to Honduras, 60 percent of whose people live in poverty, so Zelaya had reason to be grateful. But Zelaya is no radical in the Chavez or Morales mould. He is a liberal elected to the presidency via the system of alternating power with the conservatives that has operated in the country for decades.

So was this just another military coup in a "banana republic"? The term was coined by the US writer O Henry about Honduras, at the beginning of the 20th century. The county's history has long been dominated by the multinational United Fruit Company.

It still depends on exporting bananas, coffee and sugar for its survival – largely to the United States. Since the 1980s, it has also played a strategic role for Washington. After Nicaragua’s radical Sandinista revolution of 1979, Honduras was transformed into a military base for the US-financed contra war. Eventually this cost over 50,000 Nicaraguan lives and virtually destroyed its economy.

The 1982 constitution – which Zelaya wanted to change – was passed under the close scrutiny of the US ambassador in Honduras at the time, John Negroponte. He is a sinister figure, who later became US ambassador to Iraq after the invasion, and then Bush’s National Security Adviser.

US military aid to Honduras increased from $4m to $77m on his watch, and the US military base at Soto Cano is his legacy.

It is that connection that probably explains the Honduran coup. It clearly took President Obama by surprise. At first he added his voice to the Organisation of American States and the United Nations in condemning the coup and demanding the return of Zelaya.

Given Honduras’s absolute dependence on the US that should have been the end of the matter. But Zelaya has still not been able to return and representatives of the new “de facto” government of Roberto Micheletti have visited Washington under the auspices of Hillary Clinton and been well received by, among others, ex-presidential candidate John McCain.

At the same time Clinton has set up negotiations between Micheletti and Zelaya. This has given the new regime legitimacy it had no right to and delayed the return of Zelaya that the mass movement continues to demand.

Negroponte, his equally sinister colleague Otto Reich – George Bush’s sometime adviser on Latin America – and John McCain now reappear on the scene. All of them have worked closely with a Venezuelan lawyer called Robert Carmona-Borjas who was one of the architects of the failed 2002 coup against Chavez.

McCain in particular has been campaigning against Zelaya because of his objection to the privatisation of Honduras’s mass media. And both he and Reich speak for the interests of the giant media corporation AT&T.

More importantly, as a group they represent Bush’s strategy for Latin America – backing repressive regimes like Colombia, attacking progressive movements like Aristide’s in Haiti, and mounting a sustained political attack on Venezuela and Bolivia.

Honduras itself is not very significant strategically. But if the Bush clique can push Obama into negotiation with the new right wing regime there, with what seems like the willing help of Hillary Clinton, this will lay the foundation for a new US strategy in the region – and for its increasing involvement in Latin American affairs.

The popular organisations of Honduras have seen this most clearly and chosen to resist it with all their strength.


and so it goes,
GORD.