Holocaust Remembrance Day & OWS

Sadly, some nutjob chose to post an anti-Semitic editorial cartoon to a community FaceBook page associates with Occupy Tampa today, which also happens to be Holocaust Remembrance Day. Of course, such a post is never acceptable, but that said nutjob did so today makes his or her action especially excoriable.

53 people "Liked" the image. A few commenters signalled approval while more than 400 people objected to the post.

According to the website The Algemeiner, Occupy has "denounced" the image, and it has been removed from the FaceBook page.

Here is the image, which, incidentally, originally appeared in a Qatari newspaper, Al-Watan, on 30 September 2011.

Someone seems to have the completely invented, fantastical hoax of The Protocols in mind.

Oh, Those Quirky Doctors

The Association of American Physicians and Surgeons, a group "formed in 1943 as an alternative to the American Medical Association, which some conservative doctors didn’t think was protecting their rights,"has some rather--interesting--ideas.

According to an article by Joseph Gerth in the Louisville, Kentucky Courier-Journal, the group has published within the pages of its journal claims that HIV does not cause AIDS, that nicotine is not addictive, and that the WTC fell because asbestos was outlawed during the Towers' construction. On its website, the group features articles that question whether President Obama hypnotized crowds (see the highly scientific, and persuasive, claim that: "the Obama campaign logo 'might just be the letter ‘O,’ but it also resembles a crystal ball, a favorite of hypnotists'"). The group also perpetuates the soundly discredited theories that abortion leads to breast cancer, and that vaccinations lead to autism.

Quirky.

** The AAPS has been in the news periodically because one of its current, and long-time, members is Dr. Rand Paul. Dr. Paul's father, Dr. Ron Paul, is as member as well. According to the article,

Rand Paul’s campaign declined to answer questions about whether he supports the association’s positions. Instead, it highlighted the group’s opposition to abortion and to Democratic initiatives, including Obama’s health care law.

“Dr. Paul is member of AAPS because they believe that any health care reform should be market-oriented and embrace more freedom, not more government,” Jesse Benton, Paul’s campaign manager, said in a statement.

Certainly "more freedom, less government" is a good thing, as is questioning medical theories, but the group's positions do smack of conspiratorial, and kind of whacky (Obama's "O" and a crystal ball?), thinking.

Birther to be Court Martialed?

An Army doctor, Lieutenant Colonel Terry Lakin, rejected his orders for deployment to Afghanistan because he believes the Commander in Chief is illegally president. After heading for the Pentagon (when he should have been shipping out), his brigade Commander, Col. Gordon Roberts, told him "that he could face court martial, and [Lakin's] Pentagon building pass and government laptop computer were seized" (MSNBC). It's about time there was some smackdown. Seriously, people have been too patient with the birthers' conspiracies.

H/T Balloon Juice

Added: More at The Colorado Independent, which asserts that a case for court martial is being prepared.

(Lakin isn't the first soldier to try this. Obama Conspiracy Theories, which has done a remarkable job of keeping up with Birtherism, has the rundown on the unfortunate others).

Rumor Central: Obamacare (Updated)

Taking a break from The Project to post some links regarding the plethora of rumors on health care reform.

1. For seniors concerned about Medicare and the fears of the government controlling "life and death decisions": the AARP has a page on "Myths vs. Facts"

2. "Health Insurance Reform Reality Check" addresses the claims that health insurance reform will:

-lead to a "government takeover" of health care or lead to "rationing."
-would encourage or even require euthanasia for seniors.
-will affect veterans' access to medical care.
-will harm small businesses.
-would be financed by cutting Medicare benefits.
-will force people out of their current insurance plans / force them to change doctors.

3. The rumors and distortions--on both sides--have kept Factcheck.org pretty busy. See the entries under:

"Health Care"
"Health Insurance"

4. The Truth-O-Meter at Politifact goes wild in the "Health" category.

5. The Associated Press fact checks rumors about "death panels" and clarifies the bill's statements on advanced care planning.

6. The Institute for Southern Studies corrects some of the misinformation presented by, among others, The Liberty Counsel (you can see the Liberty Counsel's full list of talking points here. This list appears to be one of the sources for Sarah Palin's much debunked claim about government run "death panels").

Note: Politifact approached the Liberty Counsel about a particularly specious claim on the list: that the health care bill "'will establish school-based 'health' clinics. Your children will be indoctrinated and your grandchildren may be aborted!". . .the bills now before the House say nothing about the school clinics being able to offer abortions." Politifact "spoke with Sarah Speller at the Liberty Counsel, who told us that the group had been getting a lot of calls about the memo and that everyone there was very busy as a result. However, she assured us that 'as far as our office can tell, everything in the overview is accurate. That's about all I can tell you,' she said. 'I'm just relaying what I've been told to say.' [Politifact] see no language in the three main versions of the bill that would allow school-based clinics, which have a long history of providing basic health services to underprivileged students, to provide abortions. Nor would the clinics even be new — they have been around for three decades. So we rate the claim Pants on Fire!

7. McClatchy publishes "Headed to a health care 'town brawl?' Read this first," a brief guide to wild claims about health care reform.

8. C Q Politics does a decent job at "Vetting the Health Care Rhetoric."

9. Factcheck has a fresh entry tackling a chain-email currently making the rounds: "Twenty-Six Lies About H. R. 3200." Factcheck notes that the email makes 48 claims. Of these, 26 are demonstrably false, 18 are misleading, and 4 are true.

If you find yourself in a muddle from all the misinformation floating about, the sites included above offer some clarity.

And it's back to The Project.

McCain's Camp Checked Out Birther Claims

And came up with nada.

David Weigel reveals that lawyers working with the McCain Campaign's general counsel "monitered" the Birther lawsuits. They did a little investigating of their own as well:

While they ruled out any chance of the ‘birther’ lawsuits holding up in court, lawyers for the McCain campaign did check into the rumors about Obama’s birth and the assertions made by Berg and others. “To the extent that we could, we looked into the substantive side of these allegations,” said [Trevor] Potter. “We never saw any evidence that then-Senator Obama had been born outside of the United States. We saw rumors, but nothing that could be sourced to evidence. There were no statements and no documents that suggested he was born somewhere else. On the other side, there was proof that he was born in Hawaii. There was a certificate issued by the state’s Department of Health, and the responsible official in the state saying that he had personally seen the original certificate. There was a birth announcement in the Honolulu Advertiser, which would be very difficult to invent or plant 47 years in advance.” (Washington Independent)

It's worth your time to read Weigel's entire article, which soundly (and sanely) debunks most of the various Birther claims. While this won't stop the more fervent Birthers, it might help check the mainstream "interest" in the story.

Fresh Air on Conspiracy Theories, Extremism, Racism, Violence

On the Fresh Air broadcast for 18 June, Terry Gross interviews Chip Berlet, a senior analyst at Political Research Associates who "has studied extremism, conspiracy theories and hate groups for more than 25 years." (NPR). The broadcast focuses on the links between conspiracy theories, extremism, and violence.

According to Berlet, there have been nine murders linked to white supremacist groups and/or prompted by conspiracy theories since Obama's election [correction: since the inauguration].

You can listen to the show here.

Aside: Berlet addresses both right wing and left wing conspiracy theories, extremism, and scapegoating.

And on a related note: The OC Weekly has published a profile of Dr. Orly Taitz, an anti-Obama activist and birth certificate conspiracy theorist, as well as an overview (and debunking) of her various claims. Read it here.

Bill Posey (R-FLA) Eases Out of Birther Status

One month after introducing a bill--H.R.1503--that would require all presidential candidates to provide a copy of his or her birth certificate, U. S. Representative Bill Posey still lacks a co-sponsor for said bill.

Additionally, Representative Posey says that,

he has "no reason to question" that Obama — born in Hawaii to an African father and an 18-year-old American mother — is a U.S. citizen. (Orlando Sentinel)

Sorry Birthers.

Update: Representative Robert Goodlatte [R-VA6] has signed on as co-sponsor to H. R.1503. It only too a few months then.

Wrath and Weeping

"FEMA camps," "a usurper president," "gun bans," "fascism," "socialism," "a one-world currency," "the end of our way of life."

There's been an explosion of fear and paranoia that seems to emerge from the 'blogosphere and makes its way to talk radio, to televised talking heads, to state legislators and, finally, to the U S Congress--wild rumors thereby gain a sheen of legitimacy each step along the way and gradually become "conventional wisdom" and intensify the paranoia. Sadly, this free-floating fear is driving an increasingly ugly rhetoric of revolution, of insurrection. Even more sadly, there are people who appear to thrive off of the panic and prove only too eager to encourage it. Certainly, there might be a short-term payoff for such folks (money, celebrity, etc.), but I wonder--what happens when it turns on them? And it will. It always does.

Later: So we discover that the Pittsburgh shooter was a conspiracy theorist and a Stormfront regular. Yes, he was insane for opening fire on innocents, but what kind of "encouragement" had he been receiving? For an answer, you might want to visit The Washington Independent. Journalist David Weigel spent Saturday at a Kentucky gun show, along with white supremacists, conspiracy theorists, and Orly Taitz of Birther fame (I'm sure some normal folks were there as well). His photos of the event are pretty suggestive. Take a look.

And the ADL has a piece on Poplawski and his history of right-wing and white supremacist rhetoric here. It's disturbing.

Salon on the Birthers

Alex Kopelman at Salon reviews the latest "Birther" nonsense, a "citizen grand jury" that opted to "indict" President Obama over the past weekend. Kopelman's concise discussion also notes the creeping violence emerging from the "Birther" folks.

Two Marines Threaten the President

Two Camp Lejeune marines have been charged with threatening President Obama, but before you get too anxious about the military "turning" on Obama (recall all those rumours about military hostility that dogged Clinton?), consider that one of the men, literally seems to have "lost it" while the other is a criminal whose journals reveal racist sympathies.

The former marine is Nicholas Daniel Hanke, who appears to have suffered some kind of attack after boarding an airplane--once on board and,

"[b]efore the plane’s aircrew had a chance to taxi on the runway, Hanke started shouting there was a bomb on the plane, Gary Broughton, the airport’s director of operations, told the Wilmington Star-News. Hanke allegedly pushed a flight attendant and the captain, and then ran from the plane.

Airport security chased him down and, as they were cuffing him, authorities say Hanke head-butted an officer and shouted more threats, including some against Obama [. . . .] Local authorities charged Hanke with making a bomb threat, resisting arrest, assault and battery, communicating threats, and three counts of assaulting government officials,. (Marine Corps Times)

Paranoia? A panic attack?

The other marine, Kody Brittingham, was "separated from the Corps in early January." In December, he was arrested and charged,

with attempted robbery, breaking and entering, and conspiracy [. . . .] After his arrest, Naval investigators found a journal allegedly written by Brittingham in his barracks room, containing plans on how to kill the president and white supremacist material[. . . .]. (Marine Corps Times)

Neither story "confirms" that the various conspiracy theories targeting the President are prompting people to attack the Commander-in-Chief. Rather, these stories illustrate the madness of paranoia and the ugliness of racism. However, I wouldn't be surprised to discover this story appropriated by the conspiracy theorists to propel their agendas. We all know that some people thrive off of exploiting both madness and hatred.

Biden's Birther Joke

At the 124th annual Gridion Dinner, Vice President Joe Biden poked fun at the conspiracy theories about President Obama's birth certificate, saying:

You know, I never realized just how much power Dick Cheney had until my first day on the job. I walked into my office, and you know how the outgoing president always leaves the incoming president a note in his desk? I opened my drawer and Dick Cheney had left me Barack Obama’s birth certificate. (Politico)

Looks like the administration is quaking, doesn't it?

Biden's Gridion address is pretty hysterical altogether, so you might want to take a moment to read the transcript here.

Lonely Posey

On 12 March, Representative Bill Posey (R-FLA) introduced a bill--H.R.1503--to require future presidential candidates "to produce copies of their birth certificates and other documentation to prove natural-born citizenship" (Politico).

Representative Posey asserts, through a spokesman, that he only initiated the bill in order to prevent future presidential candidates from being subjected to rumors about their citizenship status (CNN). However, he's a bit evasive when asked about his own thoughts on the President's citizenship, telling the Orlando Sentinel: “I haven’t looked at the evidence. It’s not up to me to look at the evidence … I can’t swear on a stack of Bibles whether he is or isn’t.” I expect you can't blame the man for dancing around a bit: you can't really appeal to conspiracy theorists without looking like one yourself.

On March 20th, after a week of backlash, Representative Posey posted his reasons for introducing the bill at his 'blog.

The irony: Posey's bill proposes that a candidate produce a copy of a birth certificate. President Obama's COLB is just that--a certified copy that, as the document states, "serves as prima facie evidence of the fact of birth in any court proceeding."

Ah--and one week later, Representative Posey has yet to find any co-sponsors for his bill.

Update: One month after introducing his bill, Posey still lacks a co-sponsor. Additionally, he now says:

he has "no reason to question" that Obama — born in Hawaii to an African father and an 18-year-old American mother — is a U.S. citizen. (Orlando Sentinel)

Update Two: Two months later, Representative Robert Goodlatte [R-VA6] signed on as co-sponsor of Posey's bill. Anyone else?

Sorry Birthers.

Video: Taitz Questions Chief Justice Roberts

The folks at Politijab have located video of California dentist-cum-lawyer Orly Taitz asking Chief Justice John Roberts about her lawsuits over President Obama's citizenship. she prefaces her question with allegations about dirty dealings at the Supreme Court.

Taitz's questions to Chief Justice Roberts followed his delivery of the University of Idaho's Bellwood Lecture on 13 March; she opened the Q & A session.

You can access the entire video at the University of Idaho's College of Law website (scroll down the page until you encounter "The Bellwood lecture is now available [. . . .] Real Media Player is required"). Taitz appears some 53 minutes in. You can also view the "Birther"-relevant portion of the event, "Orly Taitz, DDS, Esq. Asks Chief Justice Roberts a 'Birther' Question," at Youtube.

Audio: Taitz Questions Chief Justice Roberts (Update: Video, Too!)

(Updated)
This little item was an "aside" in an earlier post, but it deserves its own little space.

California dentist and lawyer Orly Taitz, an active player in the "Obama eligibility" business, attended a lecture by Chief Justice John Roberts at the University of Idaho (Moscow) on Friday, 13 March.

Dr. Taitz took advantage of a post-lecture Q&A session to ask the Chief Justice about certain lawsuits challenging Obama's eligibility for the presidency. Here's an article describing the event, and here's audio, of Dr. Taitz addressing the Chief Justice.

Draw your own conclusions about the Chief Justice's reaction to Dr. Taitz. The audience's reaction is fairly evident. The laughter can't have been too encouraging.

Update: You can access video of the event here (Taitz appears about 53 minutes in--H/T to Politijab for the video link!).

Next Up: Bilderberg!

Like your conspiracy theories but getting bored hearing about Obama's birth certificate? Take heart! Refreshed interest in the Bilderberg Group is accelerating! Yes indeed, folks are, once again, pointing suspicious fingers at this top-secret cabal--the elites who plot our global destiny.

And if you're not quite ready to surrender your Obama-related theories, you get to double your fun: Obama's cabinet is chock-full of Bilderbergers, and he just can't get enough! The President has recently nominated Kathleen Sebelius for Secretary of Health and Human Services--and she, too, is a Bilderberger! What must this mean? Is the President is in the Group's employ? It's all so peculiar....I'm sure there must be a way to tie everything together.

Aside: Speaking of "birth certificate" and "conspiracy," California dentist and lawyer Orly Taitz, a participant in one (maybe two--I lose track) of the "Obama eligibility" lawsuits, attended a lecture by Chief Justice John Roberts at the University of Idaho the other day. During the Q&A period, she asked the Chief Justice about her lawsuits on the President's eligibility. Here's an article about the event, and here's audio of Taitz's questioning. Enjoy.

About that Sarah Obama Tape. . . .

Claims that Sarah Obama, the President's step-grandmother, attended the President's birth--in Kenya--have been floating around for a while.

The allegations stem from a recorded telephone interview Ron McRae conducted, via a translator, with Sarah Obama. The interview has been made available on the internet, but it's been edited to conform to the "eligibility" conspiracy (see this example of an incomplete transcript that seems to confirm the citizenship rumors; in reality, whoever posted the piece failed to include Sarah Obama's clarifying remarks negating the rumors).

The good doctor at Obama Conspiracy has posted a link to an unedited version of the tape as well as a link to an independent transcript of the conversation. Dr. Conspiracy's current post supplements an earlier post on the same topic.

(Seriously--how many tapes, or rumors of tapes, is this now? There was "whitey," there was API, and now this. . . perhaps that's it. Or perhaps there are more--if not now, I'm sure there soon will be).

Ben Smith: Meet "the Birthers"

"The Birthers" are in the MSM, and they're not going to like it.

In "Culture of Conspiracy," Politico's Ben Smith takes on "the Birthers," a group of people who claim, in lawsuit after lawsuit, that President Obama is ineligible for his office because, they argue, he is not a "real" citizen. Smith summarizes their arguments and debunks a few rumors (for example, that the state of Hawaii won't confirm Obama's birth, that President Obama is paying millions of dollars to attorneys to block the various Birther lawsuits. Obama's attorney in one case, Fredric Woocher, is working pro bono, and says "[t]here is absolutely no truth to the stories about the untold millions supposedly being paid to us" [Smith]).

Smith also cites some fairly influential conservative folks on how this conspiracy movement is, well, cracked. Michael Medved, for instance, suggests that the Birther movement might simply be a conspiracy designed to undermine/discredit the conservative movement. This does make some sense (and I wouldn't be surprised to discover that some liberals are deliberately stoking the fire) because the conspiracy is so far-fetched and because the movement's spokespeople tend to speak in such outrageous terms (cf. Alan Keyes's recent declamation). The fact that courts continue to dismiss the Birther lawsuits, that the vast majority of legal scholars reject or mock the "evidence" presented by Birthers, suggests that the people driving the movement are motivated by an antipathy for Obama rather than anything else--especially patriotism. How do you otherwise explain their often-expressed wish for civil war or for the military to "do something"? (Yes to Democracy maintains and regularly updates a collection of "the Birthers'" seditious dreams). I've said it before, but I don't recall the most rabid of "Bush derangement" (or even "Clinton-derangement") sufferers plotting to overthrow the country.

Aside: Tom Fitton of Judicial Watch, explains that "he hadn't 'seen any credible evidence Barack Obama is not a U.S. citizen eligible for the presidency'" despite being contacted by "untold numbers of people" (Smith). Let's just say that Judicial Watch hardly qualifies as a liberal organization, and it seems likely that, should they have seen anything resembling "credible evidence," they'd have hopped onto this case months ago. Take away quote by Fitton:

"If people understood better what the law is, I don't think they'd be as concerned as they are."

Update: One of the lawsuits questioning President Obama's eligibility, just got shot down by D. C. District Court Judge James Robertson. Judge Robertson included some choice comments for the plaintiffs. You can read about it here, and the followup comments. . .well, they're a hoot. A little scary at times, but pretty revelatory of the "Birther" following.

Shelby Rejects COLB

The conspiracy theories over the COLB, that is.

In an interview with Politico, Alabama's senior senator responded to small flurry of notoriety following a report that he'd questioned the President's eligibility at a town-hall meeting. Yesterday, Shelby personally,

dismissed a report in the Cullman (Ala.) Times in which he was captured as indulging a constituent’s question about whether the president was born on American soil, a widely debunked rumor held over from the presidential campaign.

“Someone asked me that in a meeting and basically what I did is paraphrase, you know just quote for the crowd, what they said and I said that has been settled,” Shelby recounted today, calling his remark “distorted.”

Shelby added, “[I] never had any doubts” about President Obama's citizenship.

There you go.

Did Shelby Bite the COLB Fruit?

According to an Alabama newspaper, The Cullman Times, Richard Shelby, the state's senior U. S. Senator, has chosen to bite at the "Obama-is-ineligible" rumor. Apparently, he did so in quite a public way--in response to a question at a town-hall meeting:

[a] local resident asked Shelby if there was any truth to a rumor that appeared during the presidential campaign concerning Obama’s U.S. citizenship, or lack thereof.

“Well his father was Kenyan and they said he was born in Hawaii, but I haven’t seen any birth certificate,” Shelby said. “You have to be born in America to be president.”

According to the Associated Press, state officials in Hawaii checked health department records during the campaign and determined there was no doubt Obama was born in Hawaii.

The nonpartisan Web site Factcheck.org examined the original document and said it does have a raised seal and the usual evidence of a genuine document. In addition, Factcheck.org reproduced an announcement of Obama's birth, including his parents' address in Honolulu, that was published in the Honolulu Advertiser on Aug. 13, 1961. (CT)

When Politico's Ben Smith contacted Shelby's office to ask about the story, a spokesperson backtracked on the Senator's statements and claimed that the paper had "distorted" the Senator's remarks. The paper stands by its story and has requested that anyone with audio or video of the event get in touch. We'll have to wait until the paper finds and posts such evidence, but there's little doubt the paper's story has energized folks on both sides of the issue: the conspiracy theorists as well as those who see the GOP as focused on harming the president rather than fixing the nation.

This could get interesting. Unfortunately, it's also interfering with the nation's real problems--the economy, for example--by muddying the waters with rumor and innuendo.

Update: I'm thinking that Shelby didn't bite; his comment on the citizenship issue is starting to look like a mangled response to the constituent's question. Folks who attended the event offer differing recollections of the Senator's statements:

Dave Ozment, chairman of the Cullman County Republican Party, who attended the meeting, said he remembered some of Shelby’s comment on Obama’s citizenship.

“[Shelby] was not saying and I’m not saying he (Obama) is or isn’t [a U.S. citizen], he was just saying he hasn’t seen one (a birth certificate),” Ozment said.

Cullman Airport Manager Bob Burns, who was also at the meeting, recalled the question and answer as well.

“It sounded to me like he really didn’t want to go there,” Burns said about Shelby. “He said he hadn’t seen his birth certificate. He said something to the effect that it had been certified in Hawaii.” (Cullman Times)

Unless audio/video surfaces to dispute this, suffice it to say this story is over. It certainly doesn't warrant either jubilation amongst conspiracy theorists or ire amongst the anti-"birthers."

Tracing the MMR/Autism Panic

Newsweek's Sharon Begley publishes a genealogy of the anti-vaccine panic that arose following Andrew Wakefield's dubious 1998 report that the triple Measles, Mumps, and Rubella vaccine led to autism. Worth your time.