Defending The Tan Man

I was waiting to see how long it would take conservatives to defend the new Speaker of The House from doing something incredibly dumb. Sad that it took the death of innocents and the assassination attempt of a Democratic Congresswoman for them to go full steam ahead.

This obnoxious meme began last night when word got out that House Speaker John Boehner didn’t travel with Barack Obama to Arizona for last night’s memorial in Tucson. Boehner snubbed Obama! He snubbed Giffords!......

Well, guess what - he did.

The above quote is from none other than Ed Morrissey, recent "Blogger Laureate" of last years CPAC and someone that is more than willing to bend the fabric of reality in order to prop up even the most ridiculous meme from the modern American Right.

His laughably insipid validation actually comes from TPM, a site that usually has something of value to add to the national discussion.

Yesterday, House members attended a vigil for victims of the Arizona shooting spree in an auditorium underneath the Capitol Visitor’s Center. As they trickled in, a House aide provided reporters, including me, a glimpse of the program of events and list of speakers. There was one small revision to the schedule, though: Minority Whip Steny Hoyer would be reading Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi’s portion of scripture, because she was on her way to Tucson with the President.

If Boehner had accepted the invitation, then the leaders of both parties would have missed the Wednesday vigil.

Yeah, because if Boehner's tears weren't present in Washington, then all semblance of reverence would have disappeared, Congressional interns would have been sacrificed to Aqua Buddah, and gays would have been allowed to marry.

Is that really the argument that the Right wants to make at this point, that Boehner - the man who was allegedly elected by his fellow House members to bring order and stability to not only the Lower Chamber, but America - couldn't be bothered to do what any decent member of the electorate should do?

Sure, there was a vigil on Capitol Hill, but I'm fairly certain that it would have went off without a hitch had Orange McMaudlinDrunk got on a plane with Pelosi and Obama to pay respects to the dead in Tuscon.

But everyone needs a story, don't they......

Reframing The Story

In typical fashion, Fox"Nation" creates a connection between Barack Obama and an alleged sexual predator where their wasn't one.

In the headline to a report about former chief of staff to Rep. Steve Rothman, Fox"Nation" uses the headline "Former Obama Advisor Arrested On Child Sex Charges".

While Decheine was employed as an advisor to the New Jersey wing of the Obama campaign in 2008, he was not - at the Fox"Nation" and even TPM headline suggests - a direct advisor to Barack Obama himself.

Among those backing up U.S. Rep. Steve Rothman (D-Fair Lawn) at today’s press conference on the eve of Sen. John McCain’s (D-Ariz.) visit stood Bob Decheine, Rothman’s chief of staff.

Decheine was in the running to be Obama’s state director, a contest he ultimately lost to union leader Tricia Mueller.

But as chief of the only member of New Jersey’s congressional delegation who endorsed Obama in the Democratic Primary, Decheine landed a position with the campaign as senior advisor.

"This is a big job we have to get done," Decheine told PolitickerNJ.com.

He said he appreciated the opportunity to meet Mueller for the first time when the new state director went to Washington last month to meet with Decheine in person.

"We’ve known each other from past campaigns, but that was the first time we ever met face to face," he said.

He downplayed the politics behind Mueller’s selection.

"We are now focused on bringing everyone together - Clinton backers and Obama backers, north and south - for the purpose of electing Sen. Obama president," said Decheine. "This movement will continue to build. We have half a million new registered Democrats, and many volunteers who are eager to get to work."

Part of the organizing in this election, said Decheine, will have the important effect of establishing a ground game for the coming - in his words - re-election of Gov. Jon Corzine.

The Obama campaign has plans to open its New Jersey general election headquarters next week.

It's this sort of "reporting" that fuels the ignorance of the modern conservative movement. What Decheine did was beyond disgusting, but directly linking him to the President is not only dishonest, but shows a lack of credibility.

Courting A Different Mistress

While this may be an over-simplification of how conservatives are viewing the prosecution of captured "terrorists", I still have to wonder why they have absolutely no faith in the American justice system.

With the recent civilian court trial of Ahmed Ghailani resulting in successfully rendering a sentence of no less than 20 years, conservatives are not pleased - at all.

And while all this noise from conservatives that Holder is an abject failure and is putting the country in danger each and every day, one has to wonder why military tribunals a) aren't used more often - even dating back to Bush's tenure in office and b) why conservatives would favor them over open trial in civilian court.

The first reason is one that is at the heart of every argument against Holder, the Obama DOJ, and civil trials in general

in the very few cases of captured terrorists being tried in tribunals, the defendants were given lighter sentences than comparable cases in the criminal justice system.

And that's exactly what conservatives are upset with - they feel that all charges against terrorists should stand without question and the maximum sentence be imposed. So if military tribunals often result in lighter sentences, if those on trial there have the right to an appeal - much like in civilian courts - why all the fuss?

I think this all comes down to a concept that I have spoken of at length before - perception vs. perspective.

Conservatives feel comfortable with the "perception" that military tribunals are something akin to this, when that's not even remotely the case. They believe that a tribunal, in general, is nothing more than a sentencing phase in which the prisoner is going to be given the harshest sentence possible. And that, most certainly, is NOT the case.

Despite the successes of civilian trials in relation to terrorism charges, the American legal system - despite the distractionary noise from conservatives - has been a success. Then again, success is measured quite differently dependent on where you sit on any given day. But, conservatives demand instant gratification to the fullest extent possible - and that is why they will never be pleased with the outcome of anything they don't have a hand in engineering.

And here's a final thought in regards to the complete disconnect in how conservatives want to fight terrorism and how they are approaching the prosecution of terrorists. After the rhetoric, the flag waving, and shouts of "smoke 'em out of their caves", "stay the course", and "no retreat, no surrender", conservatives are more than willing to hand those same people they are fighting a victory - and one that is none to small. Conservatives, with all their love of country and all that makes it so great, are simply afraid of bringing the terrorists to face trial in American because they might "say something nasty" or might "make a mockery of our legal process". That's the thinking here.

That's the crux of it - conservatives are simply afraid.

Context Free Conservativism

The righteous indignation of Sarah Palin was on full display while in the warm confines of the Fox"News" studios and Chris Wallace's program.



Here's the back story:

Sarah Palin is out for blood (again) this time against an Alaska CBS affiliate. She's accusing the station's reporters of conspiring against Joe Miller, calling them "bastards" and suggesting that the initials CBS stand for "Corrupt Bastards Club." The station is strongly defending itself, though, calling her claims entirely unfounded.

Palin, Miller, and their supporters are basing their accusations on a snippet of audio they leaked to Andrew Breitbart's website Big Government. The audio is weak, and it's hard to suss out the context, but what you can hear sounds like KTVA reporters facetiously explaining how to turn a story into a sensation: specifically, jesting about finding a child molester who's voting Republican and tarring Miller by association. The conversation took place after one of the reporters left a message for a Miller spokesperson, but accidentally failed to hang up.

It's a veritable conservative trifecta of outrage.

Let's take a listen to the audio:



Clearly, whomever is involved in this conversation did mention "child molesters", but there is no indication that these people are planning on concocting a story to attack Miller or are just being snarky. Naturally, conservatives are insisting that the former is true, and that "context" has nothing to do with it:

KTVA’s explanation is absurd. What possible context can they put around the suggestion that they start looking for child molesters at a political rally in order to exploit that for their television coverage? That’s a “potential what-if scenario”? Is this a suggestion that came up in strategy sessions when discussing a McAdams campaign rally?

The only absolution KTVA could have possibly had was showing that this conversation didn’t take place among their staff, but was left on the voicemail by some other people or organization. Even if KTVA approached coverage of every political event in this manner, it would be an embarrassment. In this case, it shows a strong bias against Miller and gives a window into the editorial direction at KTVA.

Next up: will CBS management take action against their affiliate?

Considering how the modern conservative movement approaches Democratic candidates, I'm really wondering if this is the argument that Ed Morrissey is wanting to present.

But let's look at the definition of the word "context":

–noun
1.
the parts of a written or spoken statement that precede or follow a specific word or passage, usually influencing its meaning or effect: You have misinterpreted my remark because you took it out of context.
2.
the set of circumstances or facts that surround a particular event, situation, etc.

I find it very hard to believe that anyone could divine any sort of context from the garbled audio that Andrew Brietbart's Big Journalism is peddling as the latest narrative puzzle piece designed to distract conservative voters.

In addition to Palin's complete lack of understand of who context works, she also seems to be unable to differentiate between the letters "S" and "C":

Apparently, college graduate Former Half-Gov Illiterata McAirHead thinks the letter C is the same as the letter S. CBS cleverly stands for “Corrupt Bastards Club” in her brain-deficient little unschooled world.

Palin, along with virtually every conservative in America, relies heavily on blaming the messenger rather than tackling the message - whatever it may be at the time. Her claims against CBS tend to fall more than a little flat when one considers the fact that KTVA is owned by the Alaska Broadcasting Co.:

KTVA News is owned by the Alaska Broadcasting Co., not CBS. No CBS staffers were involved and CBS has no knowledge of and no comment on these allegations.

Joe Miller has created enough problems on his own, so I'm not seeing how this trumped up accusation is going to improve his chances of winning against Murkowski. The GOP was already distancing themselves from Miller prior to this latest attempt to slander any media outlet that isn't Fox.

ABC's Jonathan Karl reports: A high-level GOP source tells me that party leaders have essentially given up on Republican Senate candidate Joe Miller and are now banking on a victory by write-in candidate Lisa Murkowski as the best bet for Republicans to keep the Alaska Senate seat.

Murkowski defied party leaders by running a write-in campaign after she lost the Republican primary last month. But with Miller's campaign faltering, the source tells me that Republican leaders are now worried that Democrat Scott McAdams has a shot of winning and that Murkowski may be the only way to stop him.

This will be nothing more than a launching pad from where people like Palin, Breitbart, and Miller can unleash boiler plate rhetoric and continue to portray themselves as perpetual victims and that would never engage in pushing fabricated stories about political candidates.

Predictabilities

I'm honestly not surprised by this report from The Hill:

Nowhere are Democrats more clearly threatened with heavy defeat than in the South.

Nov. 2 looks set to reverse a trend of recent elections that suggested the blue party might claw its way back in states dominated for a generation by the GOP.


The Hill’s polling shows senior Democrats in the South, who survived earlier Republican waves, poised to fall in next week’s predicted GOP sweep.

In 42 competitive districts polled in four weeks by The Hill, white Southern Democrats face stronger headwinds than any of their colleagues.

Democrats hold 59 Southern House seats and could lose a dozen of them — helping Republicans toward the net gain of 39 they need for control of the House.

But Sean Miller, who penned this article, is relying more on the hot talking point of the past nearly two years than the reality of what it's like to be a modern Democrat in the South.

Anti-spending sentiment may be stronger in the South than in any other region, Penn suggested, and “this election does seem to be driven more than anything else [by] the desire to curb spending.”

The South is more concerned about "spending"? Please pardon my inability to use a more apropos term and use what is a southern colloquialism - that dog don't hunt.

The "Southern Strategy" implemented by the modern conservative movement has been rather effective since Obama took office, simply because of how racial and ethnic fears play in this region of the US.

From parade floats featuring Obama as an apparent "slave owner" whipping a white male to Tea Party leaders using blatantly racial language in a "satirical" blog on down to some Tea Party leaders being none to afraid to drop the N-Bomb in reference to the American tax payer, it's no wonder that the South is ripe for a Republican take-over.

Here in Western Kentucky, it's no different. While I attended the last two "Tea Parties" held in my home town, the racial animus was as thick and palpable as anything I had experienced in my life. Needless to say, no one wanted to appear on camera, and I'm not really surprised. This isn't to say that all Tea Baggers are racists, but they certainly aren't willing to distance themselves from those that are. To that point, the desire for many within the modern conservative to feel like they are a part of something has greatly overridden their desire to be seen as "compassionate conservatives".

Rhetorical Flourishes

Would a more apt title to this be "How To Say Nigger And Still Sound Intellectual"?

Just take a look and you tell me.



The predictable racial invective allowed at Fox"Nation" flows just as freely as D'Souza's poorly constructed thesis.

But it isn't only Dinesh that is on the only one "anti-colonialism" talking-point train. Enter likely Presidential candidate Newt Gingrich:

Gingrich cited a recent column D'Souza wrote in Forbes -- promoting his upcoming book on the theme that Obama's central motivation is to weaken America, viewing it as an evil colonial power: "Incredibly, the U.S. is being ruled according to the dreams of a Luo tribesman of the 1950s. This philandering, inebriated African socialist, who raged against the world for denying him the realization of his anticolonial ambitions, is now setting the nation's agenda through the reincarnation of his dreams in his son."

In an interview with ABC News this morning, White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs responded to Gingrich by accusing him of trying to appeal to those people "who don't believe the president was born in this country." That is, Gingrich was accused of attempting to use coded language for the birther movement.

"You would normally expect better of somebody who held the position of Speaker of the House but look it is political season and most people will say anything and Newt Gingrich does that on a genuinely, on a regular basis," Gibbs said.

I wouldn't at all say that it's coded any longer, as it is blatantly in your face on a daily basis.

There's lots to be questioned with D'Souza's latest tome, considering the fact that much of his thesis is predicated on an anecdotal error from Obama's book "Dreams Of My Father".

Here, I believe, is where Obama got his skin treatment anecdote. He found it in Fanon and altered the setting and the facts to invent a personal experience instructive about American racism. Barack Obama, meet Tawana Brawley. Obama’s bogus racial incident is reminiscent of the Brawley case, in which Brawley fabricated a story about being a victim of racist assault. But in a way Obama’s lie is worse. Brawley’s fabrications were the product of a troubled 15-year-old, while Obama’s were delivered as an adult in a book that, in some respects, served as his presidential campaign manifesto. Because this is not a trivial deception, we cannot let it pass: It is time for Obama to come clean.

I'm guessing that if any of you have heard Sean Hannity talking about Al Sharpton you will be familiar with the Tawana Brawley incident. But that's another story all together, even though it gave rise to more racial animus from the conservative movement - and continues to.

What Dinesh is not presenting in his argument is that Obama's father was quite literally absent from his life. He is, from my understanding at this point, is relying more on a poor understanding of Obama's book "Dreams" as well as cobbling together pieces of his father's life and attempting to project that onto the son.

This is something that D'Souza should be wary of pursuing, as The Economist reports:

...while I don't have any trouble understanding how Barack Obama thinks, I have a lot of trouble understanding how Dinesh D'Souza thinks. And if I were to try to understand his thinking using the same methods he uses to interpret Mr Obama, I might look to his Indian background, which is where he says he gained his insight into anti-colonialism. Mr D'Souza notes simply that he grew up in Mumbai, but a more complete accounting is that his parents were members of the Christian community in the state of Goa, which was colonised by Portugal. The last name "D'Souza" is a common family name in West Africa, where it indicates that the family is descended from the slave-trading coastal mixed-race elite. In India, however, it indicates that the family likely belongs to the Roman Catholic Brahmins, Hindu Brahmins who were converted by missionaries beginning in the 17th century. Interestingly, the Christian community in Goa retained a Hindu-style caste system, with Catholic Brahmins continuing to discriminate against Catholic dalit or "untouchables", whom they refer to as mahara or chamaar. Elite Catholic Brahmin households in Goa sent their children to Jesuit schools (like the one Mr D'Souza attended) and often spoke Portuguese at home, referring to the main local native language, Konkani, as the lingua des criados ("language of servants").

Goa remained a Portuguese colony until it was annexed by India in 1961, which happens to be the year of Mr D'Souza's birth. Many Goan Christians did not welcome the annexation, fearing they would be subsumed in the Hindu-Muslim mega-state. A later source of anxiety was India's affirmative action (or "reservation") policies, which set aside university slots and civil-service jobs for people from recognised historically stigmatised groups, known as "scheduled castes and tribes". Beginning in the early 1980s, when Mr D'Souza was off studying at Dartmouth, these affirmative-action policies engendered widespread resistance among India's elite classes, who were terrified of losing their privileged status in a colossal country where hundreds of millions of indigents might overwhelm the available spots at top schools (and reduce their kids' chances of, say, going to Dartmouth). Goa itself has set itself up as a redoubt against the reservation policies: it has the fewest scheduled castes and tribes of any Indian state. This is largely because elite Christians have refused to acknowledge discrimination against the Christian dalit, or to allow them to be recognised as a scheduled caste. Pope John Paul II rebuked Indian bishops for these practices on his visit to Goa in 2003.

The way that I read that is that it shows that D'Souza can be framed in the same light that he has placed Obama in - albeit in a ham-fisted and bizarre way, considering that the thesis that simply because a father is one way that that must mean the child will be as such.

But let's look at the racial component in all of this.

Beck has set this up in such a way where he can easily deflect accusations of racism being leveled directly at him, as he is hosting a non-white, non-American-born man of some apparent educational level to make the argument that Obama - for lack of a more polite way of putting it - is an angry negro.

The reality of this is that it's not about how D'Souza's narrative is constructed on hyperbole and conjecture, but how those that will use this information to espouse their racism. It's actually a pretty impressive bit of pre-damage control from the modern conservative media.

The Company You Keep And Unintended Irony

This story is being pushed by Fox"News" and their sister site ( you know, the place that doesn't even pretend to be either fair or balanced ) Fox"Nation", but I don't think they are fully thinking this through.

The world’s largest pro-pedophilia advocacy group uses Facebook to connect with its members throughout the world; to find and exchange photos of children; to hone its members' predatory behavior; and to identify, target and reel in child victims, an investigation by FoxNews.com reveals.

Facebook says it has a strict policy against the posting of content that supports groups engaged in child exploitation, yet a simple, five-second search on Facebook, conducted on Sept. 23, yielded dozens of pages devoted to the infamous North American Man/Boy Love Association (NAMBLA). Many of those pages featured numerous photos of unnamed boys, some of whom appeared to be too young for kindergarten.

And while I am in full agreement that NAMBLA should have no place on Facebook and certainly no place anywhere, the headline at Fox"Nation" took it one step further:

If You Are on Facebook, Is This a Good Reason to Leave?

So, Palin fanatics, are you going to be calling for Sarah ( excuse me, her ghost-writer Rebecca Manour's Facebook page )to stop using Facebook since your media masters are asking you to do the same?

Exit question: Is this going to be the catalyst that causes Palin to admit that she doesn't write those posts herself?

As for me, I realize that the internet has lots of places where people I don't agree with will post images, video, audio, and text. This isn't stopping me from using the internet, but I do think there needs to be swift action by Facebook to remove all NAMBLA and NAMBLA related material from their service. I'm sure that when and if Palin is ever questioned about this - will she be? - that she would say the same. But it seems just a little ironic that a news organization that, on the one hand, condemns the organizations use of Facebook and the services seemingly unwillingness to remove it also champions Sarah Palin's use of that exact same service.

Your Modern Tea Bagger Candidates

From Oliver Willis via Cesca, here's the set-up for another exciting question builder - how can Republicans actually claim these people.



I'm beginning what I hope to be a great discussion with the brother of a childhood friend of mine regarding how the Tea Baggers are mutually exclusive from the Republican party. And while that is only now being floated as a solution to potential losses by the GOP in November, let's take a look at precisely why establishment Republicans are beginning to shy away from the Tea Baggers showcased in this clip.

While Christine O'Donnell once took up the charge made by conservatives against Clinton that is akin to the "birther" contention that Obama was born in Africa, her "anti-masturbation" standpoint is really something that I would expect a conservative not to admit. After all, this is the party that is not only riddled with sex-scandals, but has members whom have a penchant for toe-sucking and wearing diapers, so O'Donnell might want to spin as far away from the "masturbation" perspective as she can. After all, it wasn't too long ago that conservative princess Carrie "Opposite Marriage" Prejean had a little "solo-performance" issue to deal with.

In terms of Sharron Angle, I'm just going to have to go back to the basic and honest question that anyone should ask about her - does she really advocate taking up arms against government and does she really have a "privatized" solution for Social Security and Medicare or is this just all the standard conservative line as they really don't have specific solutions?

As far as Rand Paul is concerned, the whole "Aqua Budda" bit is small time when put up against not only his stance regarding accommodating people with disabilities or favoring the idea that private businesses should be able to discriminate against anyone they choose. Not only that, but his hypocrisy on the role of the USDA on down to the fact that he is not a true "board certified" doctor simply doesn't paint a good portrait of the man who is attempting to be a king of the Tea Baggers.

When one takes a look at Joe Miller and realizes that this man is attempting to gain a seat in Congress representing the state that once called Ted Stevens - a man known for bringing home that evil "pork" to Alaska - "Uncle Ted", you get this overbearing sense that only in Bizarro World would someone like Miller have a snowballs chance in Hell of getting elected.

I think the remainder of the video is self-explanatory.

These are the people that modern conservatives are holding up to us and claiming with loud noises that they are the future of America. If these people are the future, I'm wondering when our country will turn into a version of the society in Logan's Run where conservatives start to tell us that if we vote Republican before we are 30 that we get to "renew".

The Theatre Of Damage Control

To use a phrase that we often hear from conservatives - question the timing.

Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Steele has a party fundraising event coming up in August that is scheduled to feature a very special guest: Conservative media activist Andrew Breitbart, according to a copy of the invitation exclusively obtained by TPM.

The fundraising event, billed as an "Election Countdown," will take place from August 12-14 in Beverly Hills, California, and will also feature other politicians such as California Lt. Gov. Abel Maldonado, Rep. Dana Rohrabacher, and Nevada Republican gubernatorial nominee Brian Sandoval. Steele and Breitbart are scheduled to co-headline a welcome reception on the first evening, August 12.

It's certainly some odd timing for the RNC to be working closely with Breitbart, who, of course, has made headlines recently for circulating a video clip of then-Department of Agriculture official Shirley Sherrod, an African-American, seeming to tell a story about how she would not help a white farmer who was down on his luck 24 year ago. Sherrod was quickly forced to resign last week. And as it turned out, the full video showed that Sherrod was telling a story about how she ultimately did not discriminate against the farmer -- that this was a great turning point in her own personal story of race relations in the South -- and she did help him. Indeed, the farmer himself has come forward to defend her and discuss their lasting friendship.

Sure, this could have been planned months in advance, but isn't it odd that Micheal "I'm going to tap into the modern hip-hop movement to get more votes" Steele AND Andrew "I'm going to prove that all blacks are either racists or out to do something illegal or detrimental of the fabric of this nation" Breitbart are going to do a fundraising duet?

I'm guessing this is where Fox"News" will chime in that Andrew isn't a racist because he's going to share the stage with a black man. I'm sure that's coming - probably in the form of Sean Hannity's program complete with "Rev." Jessie Lee Peterson and Eric Rush.

Degrating What They Endorse

In which we see Megyn Kelly do her best concern trolling.



One has to marvel at the rank hypocrisy of Kelly, considering the fact that her and Fox are continuously going to bat for the Tea Baggers that espouse the same type of idiotic prattling that Tancredo is displaying here.

Everyone Loves A Parade

The new campaign tool for conservatives - assault weapons.



While Talking Points Memo has more on the parade for a Palin-backed candidate for Senate, I have to ask myself how this could shape up to be a big problem for conservatives on election day.

Not to delve too deeply into the "what if" dimension that conservatives prefer over reality, but what's going to happen when and if these people show up to the polls on election day with their guns? Are we going to hear from Fox"News" and their mouth-agape followers about voter intimidation? I highly doubt it. But what should be blatantly apparent is that the blip above is a form of voter intimidation - we have guns and aren't afraid to show them off in order to show how serious we are about getting this guy elected.

Back To This, Really?

The politician in diapers digs a little deeper.



I'm thinking that some people are behind the times of their fetishes. After all, the whole 'having a hooker treat you like a baby while your wearing a diaper' bit hasn't been that prominent since HBO featured it as a portion of it's Real Sex series back in late 90s. So NOW Vitter wants to jump in Orly Taitz' lap and beg for a pat on the bum? Really?

Republican Weed Scam

And conservatives were screaming because ACORN allegedly did this type of thing.

Orange County authorities are launching an investigation into possible voter registration fraud after a local newspaper reported over a hundred cases of voters being tricked into registering as Republicans by petitioners who asked them to sign petitions for, among other causes, legalizing pot.

The Orange County Register reported last week that the Orange County District Attorney's office announced it would team up with the Secretary of State on the case, following a Register report that 99 written complaints were filed since March by voters who said they were registered as Republicans without their consent.

Another 74 voters reached by the Register said they, too, were unwillingly made members of the GOP.

According to the story, those trying to get the phony petition signed apparently told most skeptical respondents that they had to fill in the "Republican" in order for their signature to count.

I'm sure that most people, especially now, would be very wary when signing something and being asked to claim that they were Republican. I'm sure there's lots more trickery to this than we know right now. Then again, some people can be easily duped. Could this be another conservative filmmaker stunt trying to show that voters in California are "stupid"? Who knows.

Considering Fox"News" went full bore on ACORN and the alleged voter registration fraud from '08, I won't be holding my breath waiting for them to cover this story.

Birther Army

It's this type of story that does not paint a very good picture of our country.

Formal court martial charges have been brought against Lt. Col. Terrence Lakin, the Army doctor who believes President Obama may not be a natural born citizen, for failing to follow orders, the military said today.

Lakin was charged Thursday "with one specification of a violation of Article 87, Missing Movement and four specifications of a violation of Article 92 (three specifications of Failure to Obey a Lawful Order, and one Specification of Dereliction of Duty)," said Chuck Dasey, spokesman at Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington, where Lakin is assigned.

The court martial is likely to raise the prominence of what is already a cause célèbre among Birther adherents.

This type of action is pathetic on two levels. Not only is this man a member of the US Armed Forces, but he is a doctor.

Though many will refuse to admit it, the Birther movement is largely predicated on one thing and one thing only - abject racism. But don't expect any conservative to admit that there is any such thing.

Here's an exit question for you. Considering this man's abject ignorance and willingness to not only put his fellow servicemen in danger for not reporting for duty that he signed up for, but putting your life in danger by picking and choosing when he will and won't serve, do you really want someone like him protecting your freedoms?

O Rly, Orly? Ya Rly!

I didn't know that Orly Taitz was a dentist too!

Seems that she's using that angle now to file papers against Obama, adding it to her continued "birther" suit.

The challenge comes in the form of an amended complaint in a Birther case in district court in Washington, Taitz v. Obama, that challenges the president's citizenship.

Along with raising the specter of death panels and charging that Obama, as an illegitimate president, does not have the right to sign the health bill into law, Taitz writes in the new section of the complaint, titled, "VIOLATION OF COMMERCE CLAUSE AND OF PLAINTIFF'S RIGHTS TO GAINFUL EMPLOYMENT AS A DOCTOR OF DENTAL SURGERY UPON DEFENDANT'S IMMINENT SIGHNING OF THE HEALTH BILL"

She goes on to allege that she would be subjected to multiple, undo, lawsuits. That's right, the woman that has filed more legal papers against the Obama administration than just about anyone is afraid she'll get sued. Oh, the irony.

Here's another thought. I'm wondering about Taitz's skill-level as a dentist, because if she doesn't understand how to fill out a simple document then I certainly don't want her putting sharp objects in my mouth.

Another Attacker With Right-Wing Views

But you'll only hear about his "Truther" standpoint.

Talking Points Memo has a full write-up of who John Patrick Bedell was.

The California man who opened fire last night outside the Pentagon was a property rights extremist who railed against the government's ability to "confiscate the resources of their citizens to fund schemes that need only be justified by lies and deception," and wanted to "eliminate the role of the government in education."...."Communist and socialist governments that abolished or disregarded private property," said Bedell in the recording, "created poverty, repression and murder on a truly enormous scale." But, he continued, "Even in the United States, however, there has been a continual erosion of protection of private property justified by the belief that government is an efficient instrument for the positive direction of society."

He made a recording of his views a few years back and posted them online. Not to sure how long the FBI will allow this link to remain up.

Again, I'm going to steer clear of calling this man a full-fledged Tea Bagger, even though his Right-Wing views on property rights and government in general do mesh quite nicely with what many within the Tea Bagger movement espouse.

And isn't it a nice coincidence that Fox"News" has taken to championing property rights this year.

Nothing To See Here

Does anyone else feel a bit unsure about this idea?

A Louisiana sheriff plans to arm volunteers with shotguns, riot shields, batons, and a .50-caliber machine gun mounted on a "war wagon," as part of "Operation Exodus," a program to provide security in the event of a terrorist attack or civic unrest. "It's a calling," he says.

I'm not going to spend time on the fact that every guy in that clip is white and this is nothing more than a way to grow a militia based on conservative fear-tactis, but here's something to ponder - how man are anti-Obama Republicans?

The Distance Between Them

Here's another clip of Tony Perkins whining.



I completely understand that one doesn't have to be a Republican to be a "conservative", but the reality of our current socio-political climate is that "conservativism" has become a fringe ideology, almost a theology to a certain degree. And those that claim to hold these ideals are primarily Republicans.

For all of Perkin's lofty rhetoric, he is largely ignoring the fact that conservative practices have been a plague on this nation, save the practices of Bill Clinton ( budget surplus, strong economy, welfare rolls shrank ) since those that espouse them rarely put them into practice. It's what these alleged conservative champion do act upon that has caused many of the troubles we face today.

It's already been pointed out to the Tea Baggers by their princess, Sarah Palin, that they will have to choose a political party in the upcoming elections. Who do you think they are going to choose, Tony?

The Across The Street Statement

Poor wingnuts couldn't get their gimmick to work the way they wanted.

A lot's been made of the conservative signing later today of "The Mount Vernon Statement" -- the right's "restatement of Constitutional conservatism."

But it turns out that not only is today's signing taking place several miles away from the actual Mount Vernon -- 4.4 miles by car, by our count -- but conservatives asked to sign their declaration at the real Mount Vernon, and were denied.

Melissa Wood, media relations manager for Mount Vernon, tells us that the conservative group "did make a formal request to use Mount Vernon for this announcement. The request by the Mount Vernon Statement group was denied due to Mount Vernon's events policy."

Conservatives love to co-opt history when they think it will suit them best. Bravo to the Mount Vernon Ladies' Association for telling the villagers they will have to have their little "tea party signature fest" elsewhere.

I'm almost certain that this will come up during CPAC. Will conservatives now claim that the policies of hosting gatherings at Mount Vernon have a "liberal bias"? I wouldn't put it passed them.

Tea Baggers Preparing For War?

The more examples we see like this, the more you start to realize that conservative "values" are nothing more than a pollutant and a danger in our current socio-political climate.

The Massachusetts man charged this week with stockpiling weapons after saying he feared an imminent "Armageddon" appears to have been active in the Tea Party movement, and saw Sarah Palin, who he said is on a "righteous 'Mission from God,'" as the only figure capable of averting the destruction of society.

...Gregory Girard, a Manchester technology consultant, was found with a stash of military grade weapons, explosive devices including tear gas and pepper ball canisters, camouflage clothing, knives, handcuffs, bulletproof vests and helmets, and night vision goggles, say police. They believe Girard, who pleaded not guilty at his arraignment, was "preparing for domestic and political turmoil," and feared martial law would soon be imposed.

Girard's personal Tea Bagger webpage contains the all too familiar ramblings of a person so diluted with misinformation and abject rage against some shadowy oppressor that the pieces begin to fit together nicely, though you wouldn't be able to tell it just from the seemingly "ordinary" looking guy from the photo above.

And if you're thinking that this sort of reaction from a Tea Bagger is familiar, you're right.

GottaLaff over at the Political Carnival has the photo of the weapons seized.

And don't expect this story to be covered by the bulk of the media, most certainly Fox"News". Although, I am expecting someone like Breitbart to claim that this man's 2nd Amendment Rights were taken away.