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.

Nugent? Nothing New Here

According to the response to Ted Nugent's recent diatribe against President Obama (video here), you'd think that Nugent had said something out of character, but he wasn't. He's been something of a jerk with an inclination for violent language since...forever. Consider his onstage rant at Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama from a few years back, or just about any of his appearances on television. My point is, Nugent's extremism is hardly breaking news. The pearl-clutching Shock! Horror! response feeds the beast--gives him what he wants.

Aside: In 2006, Nugent sat down for an interview with a U.K. broadsheet while visiting for a Monsters of Rock festival. The piece references, and partially debunks, a revealing bit of Nugent legendry:

At 18, he was called up to serve in Vietnam. "In 1977 you gave an interview to High Times [the cannabis user's journal of record] where you claimed you defecated in your clothes to avoid the draft."

("I got 30 days' notice of the physical," Nugent told them. "I ceased cleansing my body. Two weeks before the test I stopped eating food with nutritional value. A week before, I stopped going to the bathroom. I did it in my pants. My pants got crusted up.")

"I never shit my pants to get out of the draft," says Nugent, good-naturedly.

"You also told them you took crystal meth [methamphetamine, the highly destabilising drug sometimes described as poor man's crack] before the medical - as a result of which, and I quote: 'I got this big juicy 4F.'"

"Unbelievable. Meth," he replies, in a tone of deep sarcasm. "Yes, that's my drug of choice. You've got to realise that these interviewers would arrive with glazed eyes and I would make stories up. I never did crystal meth. And I never pooped my pants."

"But you did dodge the draft." "I had a 1Y [student deferment]. I enrolled at Oakland Community College." (The Independent).

Also in the interview: in 2006, Nugent was thinking about running for Michigan governor in 2010.

So now you know.

Added: Rosie Gray's post at Buzzfeed, "Threatening Obama is Only the 10th Craziest Thing Ted Nugent Has Done," pretty much says it all. I didn't know that he was his underaged girlfriend's guardian. Now that is just . . . ugh.

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.

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.

Nazi-Naming Parents Lose Children

You might just remember a story from last month that revealed a young New Jersey couple's frustrations with a local bakery. The bakery refused to create a birthday cake inscribed with their son's name--Adolf Hitler Campbell. The parents have encumbered the poor lad's sisters with similarly Nazi-inspired names. Anyway, New Jersey has removed the boy and his sisters from the parents. A spokesperson for the state has denied that their children would be put into care simply because of their names; otherwise, there's no information explaining the children's removal. the various parties will duke it out Thursday, 15 January.

Nutjobs Convene at the NPC

A selection of "prominent" anti-Obama conspiracy theorists descended on the National Press Club Monday afternoon. David Weigel was there and he's got the goodies here.

New Site Debunks the Berg Suit

Perhaps "debunk" is the wrong word, but a site titled "What's Your Evidence" has emerged. Essentially, it moves through each of Philip J. Berg's contentions about Barack Obama's birth certificate with a critical eye. Take a gander.

h/t: Yes to Democracy

Jerome Corsi Refuted (and refuted, and refuted, and refuted)

Team Obama wasted little time sorting Jerome Corsi out, and I imagine we’ll be hearing a series of refutations of Corsi's Obama Nation over the next several days. (update: the Obama camp now encourages people to note Corsi's inaccuracies in letters to the press via this webpage).

For now, here’s some excerpts from Unfit for Publication (pdf), found at Fight the Smears. These snips address two of the most common rumors perpetuated by the anti-Obama crowd: his parents' marriage and the question of Kenyan citizenship. Each "False" note signifies a quote from Corsi's book, which researchers then correct.

FALSE: "We find there is even uncertainty whether Stanley Ann and Obama Senior were ever married in a church." [p. 44] REALITY:CORSI ADMITS ON THE SAME PAGE THAT OBAMA'S PARENTS HAD A LEGAL AMERICAN MARRIAGE

TIME Reported On Obama's Parents' Divorce Records. TIME reported, "On Feb. 2, 1961, several months after they met, Obama's parents got married in Maui, according to divorce records." [TIME, 4/9/08]

Corsi Cites Time Story To Say "Divorce Papers Confirm..." Corsi wrote, "Other sources say divorce papers confirm that a civil ceremony was held on Maui, on February 2, 1961, when Ann was three months pregnant with Obama." Corsi cites the April 9th, 2008 Time story for his reference to Obama's parents' wedding. [p. 44]

EVEN A LITTLE BASIC RESEARCH DISPROVES CORSI'S FABRICATIONS

FALSE: "Senator Obama could claim to be a citizen of Kenya, as well as of the United States. Obama can trace his heritage back to his mother, who was born in the United States and was an American citizen when he was born, and to his father, who was born in Kenya and was a Kenyan citizen when Obama was born." [p 103]

REALITY: OBAMA CANNOT CLAIM KENYAN CITIZENSHIP

Kenya Does Not Allow Dual Citizenship Applications for People Over 21 Years of Age. The U.S. Office of Personnel Management writes of Kenya, "DUAL CITIZENSHIP: Not recognized except for persons under 21 years old." The Kenyan Constitution writes, "A person who, but for the proviso to section 87 (1), would be a citizen of Kenya by virtue of that subsection shall be entitled, upon making application before the specified date in such manner as may be prescribed by or under an Act of Parliament, to be registered as a citizen of Kenya: Provided that a person who has not attained the age of twenty-one years (other than a woman who is or has been married) may not himself make an application under this subsection, but an application may be made on his behalf by his parent or guardian." [U.S. Office of Personnel Management; Kenyan Constitution]

Even if Obama Had Applied for Dual Citizenship Before He Was 21--Which He Did Not--It Would Have Expired. "A person who, upon the attainment of the age of twenty-one years, is a citizen of Kenya and also a citizen of some other country other than Kenya shall, subject to subsection (7), cease to be a citizen of Kenya upon the specified date unless he has renounced his citizenship of that other country, taken the oath of allegiance and, in the case of a person who was born outside Kenya, made and registered such declaration of his intentions concerning residence as may be prescribed by or under an Act of Parliament." [Kenyan Constitution]

So there. Can we stop with the "he's not an American citizen!" rumors now? (answer: of course not. The conspiracy-minded have already started suggesting that Obama is a citizen of Indonesia. When that gets refuted, my guess is that they'll try Papua New Guinea or Libya--either country would fit into their increasingly outrageous conspiracy plots).

Back to the refutations. Outside of Obama's group, we've got The Washington Post, which has chimed in with a column that corrects a variety of Mr. Corsi's "facts," and then concludes:

Mr. Corsi has dismissed criticisms of his book as "nit-picking," an odd defense coming from an author happy to inflate any possible omission into a full-blown evasion. Mary Matalin, the Republican political strategist who heads Threshold Editions, the Simon & Schuster division that published "The Obama Nation," described the book to the New York Times as "a piece of scholarship, and a good one at that." That would not be our description.

From what I've heard at this point, Corsi's reviewers have achieved a consensus, and it's not a flattering one.

I'd like to add that, although you might have heard that Corsi's book shall be number one on the New York Times' bestseller list this Sunday (17 August), it's not because of individual book sales. According to the Times, it's because "the book is being pushed along by a large volume of bulk sales." This suggests that, after the bulk purchase, the text is meeting one of two fates: it is being sold at right-leaning functions or distributed for free to Conservative groups--those people who aren't really Obama-inclined voters. In other words, Corsi will be preaching to the choir (as I, um, said earlier this month).

Aside: Might I add that, according to Media Matters, Corsi is all lined up to appear on a white supremacist radio talk show? Oh, yes. Mr. Corsi will be sitting down with James Edwards on 17 August's edition of The Political Cesspool: "the South's Foremost Conservative Populist Radio Program." The blog claims that the newly released film Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants 2 promotes "white genocide." That is, Caucasian women having sex with men of other races.
Should be charming.

The Obama Birth Certificate Flop

I guess that "White" story didn't pan out, eh? (oops! I spoke too soon). I guess if one attempt to smear doesn't work, you move onto the next.

I'm sure you're well aware that a few bloggers have made it their mission in life (errr...this election cycle) to prove that Barack Obama was not born in the United States and is, therefore, ineligible for the presidency. This branch of the Obama conspiracy tree features several mutations, but it evolved out of claims that, since Obama was born in Hawaii, he isn't an "official" US citizen. From that point, the conspiracy theorists turned their collective eye to Africa and claimed that Obama is a citizen of Kenya. As these two allegations of Obama's citizenship didn't work out too well, the anti-Obamites moved on to claim that Obama was (and might still be!) a citizen of Indonesia. In fact, they've found that he's not even named Barack Obama: his "real" name is "Barry Soetoro."

How did these supersleuths uncover this supersecret info? TechDude--an anonymous genius who has discovered, after extensive analysis, that Obama's COLB (certificate of live birth) was forged (apologies for the cahed link: the "regular" link now leads to a 404 error). Unfortunately, "TechDude" isn't a supersleuth--he's a superfake! See Cannonfire for an interesting expose of the people who keep pushing the fake birth certificate story--including allegations that one of the story's primary supporters might be tied to Stormfront.

It also appears that the major stoker of the birth certificate fire is a female Larry Sinclair supporter. She's also an alleged PUMA (I say "alleged," as I'm unfamiliar with Hillary supporters who post at Free Republic).

Aside: Yes, Mr Cannon is fiercely anti-Obama, and I have no problem with that. I only take issue with people who choose to make unsubstantiated, intentionally harmful claims for the sake of sliming a public figure, no matter who that public figure might be. Besides, I get a kick out of Cannonfire.

A Further Aside: Enjoy David Weigel's take on the birth certificate conspiracy theories.

Sinclair Loses Blog No. Two

Larry Sinclair's most recent site has been removed completely, and, according to his site host, there will be no return. Again, there's no coming back to Hostmonster for Larry Sinclair. See the details and communications with Hostmonster at The Mitch and Nan Show.

It should come as no surprise; he's consistently violated their terms of service by publishing personal information of those he claims are attacking him (including home addresses and residential and business phone numbers), he encourages his posters to investigate anonymous bloggers who post at sites that oppose or debunk Sinclair's activities and accusations, and he posts recordings of telephone calls that he makes to retaliate against his harassers (any hypocrisy there?). Anyway, he went all out on one woman, she complained, and Hostmonster said "enough is enough. Bye." Once again, Mr. Sinclair confirms that he is his own worst enemy. He deliberately ignores the host's terms of service, so naturally they'll disable or remove his blog. He cannot place this at the feet of any public authority or private blogger: this is his own doing.

Will he resurface? Of course he will. At the very least, he'll appear by proxy on sites by supporters Citizen Wells and Cao. The notoriety, the donations, and the winks of approval from groups such as PUMA and Clintons4McCain are probably too satisfying to surrender. Moreover, at this point, Sinclair has nothing left to lose. He's due in New Castle County superior court (DE) in a week or two, and after that, who knows?

UPDATE: He's back, and this time with StartLogic. Terms of service here. I wonder how long it will take before he (or is supporters) violate the company's terms of service, for certainly it was for this reason that Sinclair was asked to leave Wordpress and Hostmonster. If he could leave the overtly racist and the publishing of people's private information aside, he might have a permanent online home. While he might argue that others "out" various netizens, I'd suggest that "when others do it" he or the outed parties contact authorities and avoid retaliation.

Special thanks to "Anonymous" for the heads up...I was at work and unaware that Sinclair's blog had gone dark.

Sinclair: Blog No. Two Goes *poof*

While messing around on the Internet this a.m., I wandered over to Larry Sinclair's new site (he was booted off of Wordpress last week). To my surprise, the following message appeared:

This Account Has Been Suspended Please contact the support department as soon as possible, and please have your site name ready.

Admittedly, I haven't been checking in to see what Sinclair's been up to this week, at least not regularly, so I can't say why he's been shut down. My guess? Threats, posting someone's private information, revealing confidential information (e.g., the attorney Richard Wier; Sinclair placed his phone message online), inciting his regular posters to investigate and disrupt people's private lives, etc. Take your pick. Naturally, I'll offer a caveat: this could well be something inconsequential, like a software goof.

It's doubtless that we'll soon hear why the site went down; Sinclair will resurface somewhere, somehow. And after complaining that his site was sabotaged by bloggers, or that the DNC was trying to silence him, he'll confess, sooner or later, that Hostmonster suspended the site due to some error in Sinclair's own judgment or abilities.

UPDATE: Sinclair's site now displays the announcement:

This Domain (larrysinclair0926.com) Has Been Disabled

As the banner also includes instructions for restoring the the site, I'm assuming that Hostmonster has not terminated Sinclair's account, so we can expect him to amend his site and return any time now.

FYI: Hostmonster's terms of service.

UPDATE2: It's back! And this is a good thing because DBKP has been preparing a three part, detailed debunking of Sinclair's story, and they'll be needing his site for research purposes. If you haven't reviewed their library of Sinclair-related articles, I recommend that you head on over there and take a look at what Little Baby Ginn and MondoReb have cooked up for you.

Dominant Inconsistencies and Anti-Obamites

The Internet has grown heavy with the proliferation of anti-Obama groups. Some of these coalitions are, at least ostensibly, pro-Hillary Clinton. Some are bluntly anti-Obama while others play at concerned neutrality.

You might think that these groups, organized to make a splash in the ’08 election, would aim to make their online presence as transparent as possible so as to avoid any accusations of "dirty tricks," of being GOP front groups (a la the Cristi Adkins / Clintons4McCain story), or of "faking" their numbers (e.g., astroturfing) and thereby being dismissed by the media and/or the electorate.

I've noticed lately that many--indeed, the majority--of the anti-Obama but pro-Dem/Hillary groups share similar GoDaddy and Earthlink registrations. For now, I'd like to discuss the latter as it ties into something I've been rambling on about for the past month: that's right. We're back to America's Hope Foundation and Obama Hate Speech, which have recently joined the Just Say No Deal coalition.

The person who registered both sites has several other similar domains going, some of which have folded, some haven't gone live, and some are withering. The following material intrigues me as it forces the question, "why?" Why register so many websites, and under rather shady circumstances? Here are some of Jonathan Davis's/Jdawg's anti-Obama/pro-Hillary websites listed by their date of registration, domain name, and current status:

5/26 Votergate08.com (last updated 5/24)

5/26 Countallvotes.org (last updated 5/27)

6/05 Drafthillary2008.com (welcome message)

6/09 Americahopefoundation.com (welcome message)

6/09 Americashopefoundation.com (live)

6/09 Operationnobama.com (welcome message)

6/09 Usahopefoundation.com (welcome message)

6/18 Ohiofightsback.com (welcome message)

7/03 Obamahatespeech.com (live)

Each of these websites share the following registration information:

Organisation Name.... Jonathan Davis

Organisation Address. 166 blue mountain rd

Organisation Address. front royal

Organisation Address. 22630

Organisation Address. VA

Organisation Address. UNITED STATES

Admin Name........... Jonathan Davis

Admin Address........ 166 blue mountain rd

Admin Address........ front royal

Admin Address........ 22630

Admin Address........ VA

Admin Address........ UNITED STATES

Admin Email.......... jdawg2008@earthlink.net

Admin Phone.......... +1.540[redacted]

Points:

1. The organization address, “166 Blue Mountain Road, Front Royal, VA,” does not exist.

2. The phone number for the registrant (504-xxx-xxxx) does not match the registrant’s name. Instead, the number belongs to a woman, V. I. Givens, who does live in Front Royal.

3. The email address is invalid.

The above, along with AHF's employment of a questionable (at best) "Reverend" prompts me to consider their motivation: why all the dissimulation if they're only concerned about Hillary's success? What other reasons might underlie their deception? And did they intentionally select the name of a KORN member for the registrant? Of course, this assumes that the registrant's name was fake, but there hasn't been much to cast doubts on that possibility.

Finally, as a source pointed out to me, the telephone contact information offered on Count All Votes does not belong to the name listed on the site: “Count All Votes” lists “Aaron McCauley” as their contact along with a Seattle-area telephone number. No Aaron McCauley exists at the telephone number. It belongs, instead, to a person named McCathern, who is, according to comments left on various blogs, a Clinton supporter. But to mismatch a name and number, well...perhaps they weren't really expecting anyone to call.

As I'm still pursuing some points, I've resisted drawing conclusions for the moment. I'm just sharing information for now and looking forward to building on this material. But I'd like to note: a zillion websites devoted to a cause does not equate with a zillion people being devoted to that cause. It doesn't even give the appearance of a zillion people being devoted to a cause. And people know you can "fake" a website, just as you can "fake" signatures on an online petition. So, again, why do it if you run the risk of discrediting your movement?


On another note: As I browse the anti-Obama sites, I keep coming across a line reasoning that equates with the thesis that "because 18 million voted for Hillary, none of them will vote for Obama." Either/or fallacy, folks. Look it up.

I'll return to the "GOP front group" issue soon.

Special thanks to questing horse--the anti-Rocinante.

A Virtual Sticky Note

I've been putting together a longish piece on the sites America's Hope Foundation and Obama Hate Speech; I'm fairly sure that I have conclusive evidence that a GOP front group, featuring some familiar names, is behind the two Virginia-based efforts. I say "fairly sure" because I'm awaiting final confirmation on a few items.

I also have some evidence that the people behind these groups include themselves among Larry Sinclair's supporters. However, although they might back his efforts, whether they actually believe him or not is another question entirely. They're more interested in bringing Obama down than vindicating Sinclair, which explains what happened earlier this week. America's Hope Foundation withdrew its Sinclair ads (just about the same time as the Ricki Lieberman noise was kicking off. Hmmmm). Of the cutting of ties, well, let's simply say that America's Hope Foundation incurred Sinclair's displeasure.

Anyways, check back tomorrow and things ought to be laid out nice and precisely for you.

Aside: It's a Friday night in July. I wonder if Reverend Tim L. Donovan has a gig?

Not One Shred of Dignity

Tonight, Larry Sinclair appeared on Hal Turner's show to repeat the same tired claims.

Turner mocked Sinclair by playing "songs" about gay men and freeloaders; he played "jokes" about homosexuals. He told Sinclair that he hates him "on principle."

Mr. Sinclair, you worry about bloggers, and you define them as enemies out to destroy you and your credibility. Look in any available mirror. There's your enemy.

Maybe you should have listened to your supporters who actually preferred that you maintain dignity by skipping Turner's program. The rest of them? I'm sure you did them proud.

Addition: Sure enough

[ZZZZ] Says:
Larry, great interview — I am really proud of you —

Added two days later: a Sinclair supporter, JoAnn Bjorkman, reconfirms the nexus of Sinclair's believers and unbridled racism when she sends her thoughts to The Mitch and Nan Show:

Obama is a nigger, a fag, a shame to our country and to that hag of a wife. Take that and stuff it in your mouth cause it seems that is all you can do….run that mouth.

I'm sure that Ms. Bjorkman was pleased as punch with Sinclair's Hal Turner interview. She probably had a good laugh at his expense (all those gay jokes) while simultaneously thrilling to the idea that Hal Turner can somehow help put that uppity candidate back in his place.

Are you really, truly, sincerely just fine about this, Mr. Sinclair?

Sinclair and Racism: It's Confirmed.

Hal Turner. Hal freaking Turner.

Call me gullible. Call me a soft touch, but I am dumbfounded by Larry Sinclair's most recent actions, which seem to confirm the underlying motivation in his six month assailing of Senator Obama.

Larry Sinclair has announced that he will appear on Hal Turner's radio show on Wednesday, 16 July.

Hal Turner: The white nationalist and anti-Semite. The Holocaust denier. The supporter of National Vanguard and other supremacist groups. The man whose website, "Whitelandia," features posts on the "dismantling of white culture" and "breaking news for white folks." the man who advocates shooting immigrants. The man who called for murdering judges.
A man who has offered up these pearls of wisdom, compassion, and concern for the public welfare, as cited by the SPL:

[Turner] rants about a "Portable Nigger Lyncher" machine, "faggots," "savage Negro beasts," "bull-dyke lesbians" and "lazy-ass Latinos ... slithering across the border."

He's been honored with his very own page at the ADL. Enjoy.

Mr. Sinclair, if you'd ever truly hoped for mainstream media's attention, you've certainly gone about it in a strange way. If MSM journalists covered your tale now, it would only follow along the lines of "Larry Sinclair, a frequent guest of such fringe broadcasters as Jeff Rense, has also associated with Hal Turner, the noted anti-Semite and Aryan nationalist." You took such pains to distance yourself from Hillary Clinton's supporters' groups and being portrayed as politically motivated, so I admit, I cannot comprehend your reasoning. You say you just want to get the "truth" out there. Look at who you're offering that "truth" to.

The man is rabidly anti-gay, yet you--a self-proclaimed gay man--are willing to commune with him. Now your motivation will be framed as pure and simple racism. I've resisted the rages that "he's just out to bring down the first black presidential nominee." Now, I'm not so sure. This seems to be precisely your goal.

You can forget dreams of anything more than widespread public disgust.

In the words of Mr. Welch,

You've done enough. Have you no sense of decency, sir, at long last? Have you left no sense of decency?

Aside: Yes, the Goya's ugly; it's appropriate.

Added: oh, the American Nazi Party is loving the Turner interview, according to the website Ivory Power (get it? Ivory power, That's pretty clever!). No links provided, but if you Google it, I'm sure it will pop up.

"America's Hope Foundation" Pulls Sinclair Ad

An update on a post from 01 July.

The anti-Obama organization, "America's Hope Foundation" (also see here) has decided against running the ads featuring Larry Sinclair's allegations.

In a post on the AHF sister site, "ObamaHateSpeech" (which features a charming little photoshopped picture of the candidate with horns, smeared/sneering lips, and a swastika lapel pin), the group's spokesman, "Reverend Tim Donovan," announced:

We initially felt that the SInclair matter was important for the American people to hear and investigate. We produced a radio ad and distributed it (in a very limited period of time and number of spots). We had planned to air a television ad related to the issue as well, and in preparation for that we launched a due diligence inquiry into the allegations. This is important for any organization that is going to produce or distribute material of a controversial nature. During this inquiry we found several issues that made us more uncomfortable with the material. At question, specifically, was whether Mr. Sinclair was consistent in answers to questions he has been asked in interviews and in public.

In response, Sinclair has attacked "America's Hope Foundation for its decision; he's gone so far as to call them a hoax created by the Obama/Axelrod/Biden trinity). To which Reverend Donovan replied that the group would not engage in an online battle, noting:

We simply no longer believe that the information in your allegations is in fact true, and therefore we cannot support it. Should we become convinced at a later time that your allegations are true, we may reconsider our decision. I will hold you in my prayers, as I know you must be going through a great deal. I would simply offer you one bit of advice, it seems you have a tendency to make enemies. While I am certain that there are Obama people focused on attacking you, I am also becoming convinced that more often than not these are folks you have needlessly attacked, slammed, or smeared. This is all prompting me to question your mental health — and believe me this is not an attack — but I think you need to be more careful in who you associate with, who you bring close to you, and when you choose to attack those who ask questions.

Admittedly, this came as quite a surprise to me. I'd anticipated that, sooner or later, bloggers or the MSM would discover that "American's Hope Foundation" was founded and supported by Sinclair and/or his associates. Instead, the group actually explored Sinclair's claims and, having found them lacking in credibility or evidence, suggested that he might be experiencing "mental health" issues. I'm sure that many bloggers had already concluded the latter point.

For the record, I'm not one of them.

UPDATE: As of 17 July, "America's Hope Foundation"/ "Obama Hate Speech" has joined forces with "Just Say No Deal," an umbrella organization consisting of PUMA types. Apparently, they haven't had much success at raising money. Or so they say.

Sinclair to Lose Blog?

Wordpress might well yank Sinclair's blog if recent rumors (from trusted sources) bear out. It seems he has consistently violated the company's terms of service by requesting that his posters research information on private individuals and then posting that information on his site.

Sinclair often responds that his actions are only fair; after all, don't people post his information online? This is true. However, Sinclair himself posts documents and personal details online; he's done so since January 2008. In other words, he has placed that information in the public eye.

I'm not so worried about whether or not Sinclair posts information on convicted felons, but I do think he steps over the line by posting unfounded accusations against certain private citizens and then revealing that person's identity, home address, place of work, and telephone numbers. This is an incitement to harassment.

Apparently, Wordpress has had enough. Will Sinclair resurface with a new site? Possibly. Until then, if you follow this story, you'll know where to find him in the downtime.

UPDATE: When I initially posted this item, I was under the impression that Wordpress had actually pulled Sinclair’s blog. My reasons for believing this:

1. Earlier today, Sinclair began posting back-and-forth emails between himself and Alex at Wordpress. Alex asked Sinclair to either confirm his sources for individuals’ personal information Sinclair had posted, and Sinclair responded that Wordpress had ignored his own complaints about others posting information about him.

2. Sinclair announced he was leaving Wordpress as of Monday, 7/14/08, but that his Wordpress blog would remain up and running (albeit with no new posts) until that time.

3. At approximately 6:00 pm EDT, the site went inactive.

4. At approximately 6:45 EDT, the blog reappeared, and Sinclair posted the following:

Larry Sinclair Says:
Friday, July 11, 2008 at 5:47 pm
WordPress was asked to reactivate the blog long enough for me to retrieve my files and images. We will still be moving to LarrySinclair0926.com

I will not publish any further articles on this site.

As the blog had actually gone dark, and Sinclair later asserted that he'd asked Wordpress to reactive the site for archival retrieval, we might assume that Wordpress did, indeed, pull the site--I rather doubt that Sinclair pulled the site, and his "moving announcement," voluntarily before setting up elsewhere.

By the way, there's a slight update on the Delaware situation; see DelawareOnline for the details.

Added 7/12: I'm thinking that this will be my final commentary on the whole Sinclair situation. It's gone from being shockingly silly to absolutely ludicrous, and there are far better stories to waste my time on. No matter its value as an example of Internet-driven conspiracies, there's simply no need to discuss each foolish new addition to the story. Of course, I might just change my mind if something truly silly hits the 'nets.

Disclaiming Once the Damage is Done, then Reversing the Message

Two points to make today, and for once I've included links to Sinclair's blog (for citation purposes only). (links removed. Please Google)

1. For posterity's sake, I'd like to note that Sinclair added an official caveat to his Wordpress site today:

DISCLAIMER
"I do not necessarily subscribe to any of the opinions of the posters on my blog -- the posters are uniquely responsible for their own messages." I am the only person with Administrative Privileges on this Blog except in emergency situations.

Sinclair also claims that all "articles, original photos, comments, and other material on [the] site is [sic] the sole property of Larry Sinclair." In fact, he repeats that "all comments submitted to this blog become the sole property of Larry Sinclair" (of course, thanks to that pesky fair use doctrine, I can cite such material for critical purposes). But the point is that he's claiming and disclaiming the material simultaneously; I suppose I simply don't understand why he'd want to claim "ownership" of certain comments (see below)

My guess as to the disclaimer's appearance? Someone finally told him that the racist, overly sexual, and plain old whacky comments were not only getting out of hand, but that they did more damage to Sinclair than anything he might say. This includes the comments I noted here. Rather than moderate his blog for inflammatory content (except, of course, the less-than-positive commentary directed at him), he dissociates himself from the commentary it contains. Well enough. The problem in, for the past several months, his silence over such commentary implies endorsement of messages left.


In recent weeks, Sinclair seems to have made an effort to "soften" the tone of his blog; no surprise (you might review Politico's briefly-described reaction to the site). I assume that he's finally realized that people who have the power to make real decisions--decisions beyond determining how great a donation a loaf of nut bread deserves--might also take a look at his blog and associate him with its content. You'd assume that, seeking publicity from the MSM and all, he'd have paid attention to this slight point earlier.

2. For once he doesn't bother to use qualifiers such as "alleged," "purported" or "possible association" in tying Obama to murder:

1. Larry Sinclair Says:
   Sunday, July 6, 2008 at 8:51 pm

   [snip]

   The issues here are Barack Obama being a crack smoker, having being killed to protect his political dreams and his use of internet warriors and US Attorneys and Senators connections to silenced anyone who attempts to expose the truth about him.

First he adds a disclaimer as evidence of his good sense, then he reverses that inclination towards sensibility by repeating his accusations in purely confrontational language.

You have to admit--that latter post makes him look just a mite kooky. Between the drugs, the murder, and the vast cabal of politicians and lawyers out to cover everything up--well, not even Clancy could invent a plot this inane. But that fits Sinclair's tale precisely. Consider: from its genesis in a motel room, where Sinclair filmed his first YouTube video, to his press conference and subsequent arrest on valid warrants out of Delaware, to today's complaints aimed at the Obama campaign, which continues to ignore him (justifiably so), and a secret society of elites that has dedicated itself to masking Sinclair's story.

No. Not even Clancy could pull that off--successfully, at any rate.


UPDATE: An Anonymous comment posted at 1:30:

No one has told me to do anything. I have always stated the only comments that I will be responsible for are the ones that I actually make.

It is interesting that you claim all these types of comments but fail to mention how you and your sister bloggers have made far worse than anything I have found on my blog.

Not to mention the admissions of out right illegal activity that you and your sister bloggers have acknowledge you have and continue to engage in.

Have a nice day.

To Anonymous: You suggest that m, p, & g s is responsible for the actions of people unaffiliated with this blog. Please provide details to support your claims; more importantly, please cite evidence of illegal activity on this site. Unless you can supply supporting material, your allegations are baseless. I encourage you to cease and desist in asserting such claims.
Thank you.

Larry Sinclair's Complete* Criminal History

*Perhaps only partially complete. There may well be more to come.

Please visit this site for a series of allegations detailing Sinclair's criminal history, which includes, apparently, incidents that occurred not only when Sinclair was out of prison, but while he was incarcerated (and he's been incarcerated a lot). The bloggers supply specific evidence--dates, locations, case numbers, and more.

About the current charges in Delaware, Delaware Online claims that Sinclair attempted to pay for a hotel room with bad money orders. If you're at all curious about this fellow, please see Mitch and Nan's site for full details on other law-oriented items.

(UPDATE: From Delaware Online 12 July.)

To tell you the truth, I was shocked at the consistency of Sinclair's crimes--fraud. Deceit. Initially, I thought his record only centered on a few states--Colorado, Florida, and, most recently, Delaware--and a few incidents. But it seems more extensive than these. Remember Ben Smith's piece at Politico on Sinclair's criminal history? It seems that Smith only scraped the surface.


Note: Sinclair is due before the judge for an arraignment on criminal charges on Thursday, 03 July. His lawyer, a well-respected figure who thought he was being hired for a criminal matter, apparently viewed Sinclair's website, then promptly picked up the phone to call Sinclair. The attorney told Sinclair to "forget it." It's no shock, or it shouldn't be, anyways. The poor man thought he was being retained on a criminal matter. Then he discovered that Sinclair was telling his supporters the attorney's job was to help implicate Obama--it would help "get to the truth" of the matter and bring down Obama. The attorney saw this, along with Sinclair's accusations against Beau Biden, the Delaware Attorney General, and Senator Joe Biden (that they'd invented charges against him). The attorney realized he'd been played, and this is why the attorney backed out. He apparently didn't want to be associated with something as tawdry and questionable as Sinclair's story.

In For a Whole New Kind of Ugly: America's Hope Foundation

Hold on to your hats, folks. A press release has just appeared online. Read:

America’s Hope Foundation, which plans to run TV and Radio ads in swing states throughout the United States from July to November, announces two new radio ads that will begin airing on July 2, 2008 in markets across the country. The ads may be heard on the Foundation’s website (see below).
The ad descriptions follow:

• Obama – Iran ad – This ad focuses on the discrepancies in Obama’s statements related to the nuclear situation in Iran. In his own words, Obama downplays Iran’s threat level, only to dramatically reverse himself two days after. This ad calls into question whether Obama, who seems to have such an elementary grasp of foreign policy issues, will be able to keep the American people safe in this time of war. This ad is airing in Virginia, Nevada, Colorado, Indiana, and Alaska.

• Obama – Sinclair ad – This ad focuses on the allegations from Larry Sinclair, former Obama associate, who alleges that he and the Senator engaged in drug use and sexual activity together in 1999. The mainstream media has largely ignored Sinclair, but his statements must be brought to light so that they may be properly investigated. This ad is airing in Virginia, Florida, Colorado, and Nevada.
The ads will air over the next two weeks before a new round of TV and Radio ads are announced.

The Reverend Tim L Donovan, Executive Director of the America’s Hope Foundation, is available for comment and for interviews. Please use the contact below to inquire further.

"America's Hope Foundation" will run an ad about Larry Sinclair. What the heck? And they call him a "former Obama associate" According to who? Not even Sinclair has referred to himself as a "former Obama associate." And "properly brought to light"? It's been all over the internet for the past six months--it's not like the story has been suppressed. If Sinclair would produce some evidence, then the mainstream media--from Williams to Couric to Olbermann to Cooper--would be all over it.

But more on America's Hope Foundation:

Contact information from the group's website:

3445 Seminole Trail

Charlottesville, VA� 22911-7593

(800) 530-5106

cjensen@americashopefoundation.com

Note: I don't endorse contacting these people for freakouts. Hate mail will only spur their bleating about persecution (see below); exposing the group would be more productive in the long run.

A whois search includes the following:

Domain Name………. americashopefoundation.com
Creation Date…….. 2008-06-09
Registration Date…. 2008-06-09
Expiry Date………. 2010-06-09
Organisation Name…. Jonathan Davis
Organisation Address. 166 blue mountain rd
Organisation Address.
Organisation Address. front royal
Organisation Address. 22630
Organisation Address. VA
Organisation Address. UNITED STATES

A little more investigation might be due here. It's possible that both names will be unveiled as either former "Hillary is 44" maniacs or as another set of GOPers fronting a site for those mythic disillusioned Democrats, you know--a site like "PUMA" or "Clintons4McCain/ClintonsFor McCain." Incidentally, I wrote on these last night. (For more on Reverend Tim L. Donovan see here).

Curiously, a search for "Tim L Donovan" results in a listing at a "Count All the Votes" e-petition--just two spaces above Cristi Adkins. Of course, there's no way of knowing if either "Tim L Donovan" is the one referenced in the news release, but I do find it interesting that a Tim Donovan seems so close to...Cristi Adkins (even if it is a matter of spaces on a generic e-petition).

Mostly though? I'm thinking that this "America's Hope Foundation" is yet another eruption from Sinclair's followers--a way of "sneaking" their ugly series of accusations (drugs, gay sex, murder, and so on) in the mainstream-and making themselves look even more foolish (if possible).

Okay, now despite all that I've written above, I 'm actually fine with this. Let me rephrase that. I'm not happy that people are going to give Sinclair's story more publicity as it's already been shot through with holes, and I'm not happy that they're going to use it intentionally to slime Obama--there's certainly no pretense at an ethical appeal here. It's intended to smudge him up so badly that, when the story is again discredited, people will yet wonder if there "might" be any truth to it (and of course there isn't).

The reason I am fine with it is because I'm sick and tired of people pretending that this story isn't "out there" and that journalists have ignored it (they haven't ignored it--they've reviewed it and found it devoid of credibility). It might well be worth taking a risk, and losing the few gullible voters (well, probably not a loss. Such people are likely the same ones who continue to insist that Obama is Muslim) just to make Obama's non-involvement perfectly clear and to stop the allegations once and for all. Besides, there's that whole first amendment thing. America's Hope Foundation has every right to say what they will. And Obama has every right to slap them, and Sinclair, with a lawsuit for slander.

Crikey. You'd think theses anti-Obama scamps would have learned their lesson when the "whitey" tape blew up in their faces. And the birth certificate thing. And the "Brother says Obama was a Muslim" thing. And the "Obama went to Rezko drug parties" thing. And the "long legged mack daddy pimp" thing. And the "Kenyan connection thing." I'm sure there are other examples of matter-thrown-but-unstickable, but it's getting towards logging off time.

My guess about this America's Hope Foundation thing: egg will be on some abashed faces soon.

Added 7/02/08: They've updated their website:

America's Hope Foundation will run both new Obama radio commercials, in spite of an attempt to harass and intimidate our organization�by Barack Obama supporters.

Conveniently, they've not included any examples or evidence of such harassment and intimidation. And how do they know if people who object to this nonsense are Obama supporters or not (plenty of people who refuse to vote Obama don't approve of this kind of tactic). But they have chosen to include a rather poor compilation of GOP-style anti-Obama talking points, most of which merely reiterate attacks that others have used to no avail (e.g., the "hate spewing pastor," the "clinging" comments, the Ayers thing, etc.). Such attacks might be more effective if they were applied more creatively or at least--dare I say it?--more intelligently.

Yawn.

UPDATE: America's Hope Foundation claims that its ads began airing today (Sunday, 06 July). We'll see.

One thing I'd like to add: whoever writes the prose on that site desperately requires an editor/proofreader.

UPDATE 2: After exploring Larry Sinclair's claims, America's Hope Foundation has withdrawn its ads featuring Sinclair. See this post.