Birthers are morons

[bentheimmigrant]

I'm not sure I can handle all this truthiness all in one sitting!

[Dauric]

I'm not sure I can handle all this truthiness all in one sitting!

Truthiness is all empty calories anyway.

[Heisenberg]

Have we ever seen him survive a stab from a silver or enchanted weapon?

Silly CorruptUser, it has to be both silver AND magic.

[Aikanaro]

Ladies and gentlemen, please sit down, so you don't fall over when the aneurysm hits you.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/42786288/ns/politics-decision_2012/

Spoiler:

The publisher of an upcoming book questioning the circumstances of President Barack Obama’s birth took credit Wednesday for fueling conspiracy theories about the president’s origins, saying he paid for an army of private detectives in Hawaii and provided information about the issue to Donald Trump.

Joseph Farah, the founder and chief executive officer of World Net Daily, a conspiracy-mongering website with its own publishing arm, also said he has no intention of standing down despite the White House’s release of the so-called long form birth certificate showing that Obama was born in the state of Hawaii on Aug. 4, 1961, as he always has said.

“I’m not apologizing for nothing,” a defiant Farah said in a telephone interview with NBC News, insisting there are still questions about Obama’s citizenship aside from where he was born.

The comments by Farah underscore Obama’s observation Wednesday that hard-core birthers are unlikely to be persuaded by any evidence, no matter how compelling. “I know that there’s going to be a segment of people for which, no matter what we put out, this issue will not be put to rest,” Obama said at a White House press event to release the birth certificate.

Farah, who still believes there was foul play associated with the death of Clinton White House lawyer Vince Foster, would seem to be a perfect example. His comments during a lengthy telephone interview with NBC also provide new insights into how the “birther” issue got traction in the first place – and how some of the president’s most strident critics plan to continue to hammer away at the issue, in part by switching the discussion to questioning Obama’s “citizenship” rather than his birth in the United States.

Shifting the discussion
In fact, Farah said, Obama’s citizenship, not his birth, is actually the principal theme of World Net Daily’s upcoming book by Jerome Corsi titled, “Where’s the Birth Certificate? The Case that Barack Obama is not Eligible to be President.” Corsi first garnered headlines in 2004 as one of the architects of the so-called “Swift Boat” attacks on John Kerry’s war record.

Slated to be published May 17, Corsi ‘s book on Obama shot to the top of Amazon’s book rankings last week after being featured on the Drudge Report. Farah said there have already been 150,000 advance orders for the book and he ultimately expects to print between 500,000 and 1 million copies, figures that would land it near the top of the New York Times best seller list. (As of Wednesday afternoon, the book was ranked 29th

on Amazon’s list of top 100 books, and No. 1 among books about government.)
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Farah said he and Corsi also have plotted a major publicity campaign for the book that will start on May 15, with exclusive interviews on Fox News host Sean Hannity’s radio and TV show. (Corsi himself is refusing any interviews until then, according to a spokesman. He did not respond to an email request for comment from NBC News.)

Farah acknowledged that the book’s title may be “unfortunate” in light of Wednesday’s release of Obama’s birth certificate, even while he insisted the document must still be more fully analyzed before he accepts it as authentic. “I think it will take us a little while to examine this and determine if it’s legitimate,” he said about the birth certificate, which was released by the White House along with a letter from the director of Hawaii’s Health Department certifying its legitimacy.

Even if it is authentic, Farah said the real issue is that Obama is still not eligible to be president because his father was Kenyan and his adopted father was Indonesian, making him a potential “dual citizen” of two separate foreign countries. (Farah supplied no evidence to support his contention that Obama ever held “dual citizenship.” Nor did he explain why it would make any difference, given Obama’s birth to an American mother on U.S. soil, which would meet the U.S. Constitution’s requirement that he be a “natural-born citizen.”)

“I know for some people this settles the issue,” Farah said of the birth certificate. “It’s up to us to persuade people that there’s a lot more to this issue than the Hawaiian birth.”

'A totally wacky argument'
Asked about Farah's contention, Harvard Law School Professor Laurence Tribe said by email that this is "a totally wacky argument, without any conceivable merit. ... The 14th amendment unambiguously and expressly confers U.S. citizenship on everyone ‘born . . . in the United States and subject to the jurisdiction thereof.’ This means that Barack Obama was a U.S. citizen at birth. independent of the citizenship or age of either or both of his biological or adoptive parents. ... This birther thing is a moving target, rather like the creatures in the “Night of the Living Dead.” Driving a stake through its heart seems incapable of killing it.")

Farah’s commitment to fueling the birther issue dates back to the 2008 presidential campaign, when he said he had hired a dozen private detectives in Hawaii to dig up material on Obama’s birth in hopes of finding something that might contradict the “certification of live birth” released by the Obama campaign at the time. That led to World Net Daily articles and columns by Farah that continued even after the election, including a Nov. 26, 2008, column by Farah headlined "Where Was Obama Born?"

One issue he and others harped upon: The certification of live birth didn’t contain the name of the hospital where Obama was born, suggesting that there was some mystery about the matter. Farah in his 2008 column called it "something of a state secret."

Wednesday’s release of the certificate of live birth would seem to settle the matter once and for all: It lists the hospital as Kapiolani Maternity & Gynecological Hospital in Honolulu, the hospital where Obama has said he was born.

More recently, Farah said he provided an advance copy of Corsi’s book to Trump two weeks ago, about the time the potential GOP presidential candidate began to take up the birther issue. Farah said Trump was one of the “very few” people who were provided a pre-publication copy of the book under a non-disclosure agreement.

Read more reporting by Michael Isikoff in 'The Isikoff Files'

Michael Cohen, a top aide to Trump, told NBC Wednesday that he signed the non-disclosure agreement for the book, but that he doesn’t recall actually receiving it. Still, Cohen acknowledged that “Jerome Corsi had reached out to Mr. Trump to explain certain facts that are in his book” and that the two had talked “on a handful of occasions.” Cohen also said he had consulted with Corsi on numerous other occasions.

Asked if he believes that he and Trump were supplied with misinformation about Obama’s birth by Corsi, Cohen dismissed the question and echoed the public comments made earlier Wednesday by his boss: “Mr. Trump was successful in getting (Obama) to put out his birth certificate,” something nobody else had succeeded in doing.

Farah also took credit for Wednesday’s disclosure, saying there is “no question” that Corsi’s forthcoming book led the White House to release the document. “"They knew (the book) was coming," he said.

[bentheimmigrant]

So, Fox News' initial reaction? Word things in ways that could only be more obviously biased if it used scary quote marks.

[sourmìlk]

So, Fox News' initial reaction? Word things in ways that could only be more obviously biased if it used scary quote marks.

Shameless. Absolutely shameless. It reminds me of "Suicide coincides with SOTU Address"

Yeah, somebody committed suicide somewhere at a time that happened to be during one of Obama's speeches (I think it was the SOTU?) and that was the headline.

[Isaac Hill]

This document is certainly a forgery as the information contained therein is false. The true circumstances of Obama's origin will not be found in a birth certificate, or in any document issued by a mere government, but rather the Necronomicon. Abdul Alhazred, the Mad Arab (and thus, probable terrorist sympathiser) has told of Obama's birth in the city of R'lyeh. Being a city of non-Euclidean borders, R'lyeh could extend below American soil, legitimizing Obama's claim to the Presidency. Furthermore, "Barack Obama" is not his true name, but merely the closest approximation a human tongue can pronounce. Of the prominent media, only Glenn Beck has come close to ascertaining the truth, and he has clearly gone mad from the revelation.

Ph'nglui mglw'nafh Obama R'lyeh wgah'nagl fhtagn

[M.C.]

I hope that Doctor has a private number...

[podbaydoor]

“I’m not apologizing for nothing”

That man is a paragon of credibility, certainly.

[sourmìlk]

“I’m not apologizing for nothing”

That man is a paragon of credibility, certainly.

So what is he apologizing for?

[TheAmazingRando]

So, Fox News' initial reaction? Word things in ways that could only be more obviously biased if it used scary quote marks.

I know at least my local Fox affiliate introduced the story as "Obama puts controversy to rest," which seems pretty accepting of it, apart from the fact that calling it a "controversy" lends legitimacy to the birthers that I don't think they ever deserved.

[sourmìlk]

After thinking about it, I sort of see why Fox put this up. It isn't just a matter of brainwashing their viewers and readers: imagine how many extremists they would have lost if they posted "White house releases long-form birth certificate"

[mmmcannibalism]

So, Fox News' initial reaction? Word things in ways that could only be more obviously biased if it used scary quote marks.

I know at least my local Fox affiliate introduced the story as "Obama puts controversy to rest," which seems pretty accepting of it, apart from the fact that calling it a "controversy" lends legitimacy to the birthers that I don't think they ever deserved.

Well, I don't think there is a better term that keeps the proper tone for reporting.

[bentheimmigrant]

So, Fox News' initial reaction? Word things in ways that could only be more obviously biased if it used scary quote marks.

I know at least my local Fox affiliate introduced the story as "Obama puts controversy to rest," which seems pretty accepting of it, apart from the fact that calling it a "controversy" lends legitimacy to the birthers that I don't think they ever deserved.

Ah, but local Fox affiliate != Fox News.

[Prefanity]

So, Fox News' initial reaction? Word things in ways that could only be more obviously biased if it used scary quote marks.

I know at least my local Fox affiliate introduced the story as "Obama puts controversy to rest," which seems pretty accepting of it, apart from the fact that calling it a "controversy" lends legitimacy to the birthers that I don't think they ever deserved.

Well, I don't think there is a better term that keeps the proper tone for reporting.

I think calling the birthers out as conspiracy theorists strikes a pretty good balance between truth and neutrality. Calling this a controversy is leaning way too far over for "proper" reporting.

[Heisenberg]

Obama is an internet resident, and therefore knows what happens when you feed the trolls. However, this is clearly feeding the trolls, which we know does nothing but to make them strike back, and louder.

[metaconspiracy]Therefore, if he's intentionally stoking the birther controversy, he's doing it to control the media and cover up something else. WHAT IS HE HIDING!?![/metaconsipiracy]

[Dauric]

From PBS News-Hour

Trump claimed credit for the release of the document on a trip to New Hampshire Wednesday, and he quickly pivoted to what he hopes will be the next big question mark about President Obama: whether he was qualified to attend Columbia University and Harvard Law School.

The real estate mogul turned reality TV personality is demanding the president release his college transcripts to prove he deserved acceptance to the Ivy League schools.

[podbaydoor]

Seriously? And these are the people who were all up and defending GWB and his shitty Yale grades?

[sourmìlk]

Why does he even give a shit about his college transcripts? It doesn't affect his (legal) eligibility for presidency. While the birther stance was arguably paranoia, this is clearly just looking for ways to attack Obama.

[Dauric]

Why does he even give a shit about his college transcripts? It doesn't affect his (legal) eligibility for presidency. While the birther stance was arguably paranoia, this is clearly just looking for ways to attack Obama grab media headlines and pat himself on the back for doing nothing while showing utterly no grasp of U.S. policy on anything.

FTFY.

[emceng]

Yeah, did anyone watch the Daily Show or Colbert Report last night? Donald Trump has taken the derp to a new level. I was thinking - ok, maybe Trump did the birth certificate thing as an attention whore move to get in the spotlight for a presidential run. Now I just have to wonder if he has some mental illness.

[Dauric]

Yeah, did anyone watch the Daily Show or Colbert Report last night? Donald Trump has taken the derp to a new level. I was thinking - ok, maybe Trump did the birth certificate thing as an attention whore move to get in the spotlight for a presidential run. Now I just have to wonder if he has some mental illness.

Attention-whoreism. He was a Big Deal in the 80's but once his 15 minutes were up he's been working for stage time (with more or less success) ever since. After running for POTUS (or after serving as POTUS if he's elected) I fully expect him to do a daytime talk show.

[mosc]

From PBS News-Hour

Trump claimed credit for the release of the document on a trip to New Hampshire Wednesday, and he quickly pivoted to what he hopes will be the next big question mark about President Obama: whether he was qualified to attend Columbia University and Harvard Law School.

The real estate mogul turned reality TV personality is demanding the president release his college transcripts to prove he deserved acceptance to the Ivy League schools.

You're right Trump. He's not qualified to be President. He's still black.

Fucking morons.

[Endless Mike]

I hope that Doctor has a private number...

The one that delivered Obama? No need. He CONVENIENTLY died at the ALL TOO YOUNG age of 81 due to "natural" causes while Obama was still a community organizer.

[pseudoidiot]

A LIKELY STORY

[IcedT]

I was thinking - ok, maybe Trump did the birth certificate thing as an attention whore move to get in the spotlight for a presidential run. Now I just have to wonder if he has some mental illness.

I don't think he does, but it's pretty clear he thinks Republican voters do.

[Chen]

I was thinking - ok, maybe Trump did the birth certificate thing as an attention whore move to get in the spotlight for a presidential run. Now I just have to wonder if he has some mental illness.

I don't think he does, but it's pretty clear he thinks Republican voters do.

Don't they? /snark

[IcedT]

I was thinking - ok, maybe Trump did the birth certificate thing as an attention whore move to get in the spotlight for a presidential run. Now I just have to wonder if he has some mental illness.

I don't think he does, but it's pretty clear he thinks Republican voters do.

Don't they? /snark

It's just about the only thing me and Trump agree on.

[netcrusher88]

I fully expect him to do a daytime talk show.

Fast-track to a position at Fox News: run for office while spouting whatever shit you think Republicans want to hear. On the off chance that, Producers-style, you actually make it into office, quit halfway through your term.

[jules.LT]

From the Scott Adams blog:
http://dilbert.com/blog/entry/birthers/
The birther issue is actually good for democracy, because it keeps people interested in the government even though the real problems are way too tough for them to handle.

Spoiler:

I think the birther issue is good for the country. A modern republic needs some simple and unimportant issues to keep its citizens invested in the process. The important issues of our time are far too complicated for the average person, and I count myself in that group. We need a few simple issues so we can be part of the political conversation without hurting anything. The last thing our system of government needs is regular citizens getting involved in Middle East strategy, healthcare reform, the budget, climate change, or anything else that might matter.

I'm entirely serious. It's healthy that we average citizens have some sort of topic in the political realm that will keep us engaged while also siphoning off some of our activist energy. It reminds us that we have a role in government. It reminds us that we have a constitution. It reminds us that we're in charge, sort of. And it gives the news media something to talk about on slow news days, which is important for keeping that vital institution in business.

Most citizens would lose all interest in government if there were no issues they could grasp. In a perfect world, the largely clueless citizenry, including me, would feel as if we're part of the system while having no power to break anything important. The birther issue is sort of like letting your toddler have a toy steering wheel in his car seat. He feels as if he's doing something useful and you don't have to rely on him to keep you out of the ravine.

The birther issue also feeds our healthy sense of distrust. My view is that President Obama was born in Hawaii. But it's an objective fact that presidents in my lifetime have been involved in covering up substantial lies. It's good to keep that sort of mistrust in the fronts of our minds. What could be worse than a republic in which no one imagines that the president could be a crook?

The birther issue is educational too, as are many of the so-called distracting issues. The birther distraction teaches us that a president has to be a natural-born citizen. Readers of this blog already knew that, but I'll bet a third of the country learned it recently with the birther issue. And Monica Lewinsky taught us a thing or two about impeachment.

Imagine a media that has no topics that can be understood at a sixth-grade level of reading comprehension. That's the sweet spot for clear writing regardless of the reader's education. As soon as you go above the sixth-grade level, you lose about two-thirds of the country, maybe more. The high end of the news industry couldn't stay in business if it only reported on issues that require a high school level of reading comprehension to follow along. We need a well-financed news media to act as watchdogs for the government. Bloggers aren't going to do it.

Now the media is beginning to focus on the issue of President Obama's academic record. This is the very best situation that a healthy republic could hope for. I can't imagine anything more useful than focusing on the educational achievements of the President. And when this issue gets old I propose we focus on the question of whether President Obama is still sneaking a cigarette now and then.

I feel sorry for the serious journalists that feel obliged to cover stories about the birther situation. Perhaps a healthy compromise is to label such issues as "citizen engagement" issues and acknowledge that they have an important role in educating voters and keeping people interested in the system.

Well, it does help make uneducated people vote. While encouraging them to see problems in black and white.
How does this not making things worse??

[netcrusher88]

Of course it makes things worse. Let me give you some advice about what Scott Adams says: don't listen to what Scott Adams says.

'course now he's been brought up, everyone should probably keep an eye out for him to show up here with a sockpuppet. He'll be easy to pick out - it'll be the account calling him a genius and all his critics idiots who just are too stupid to understand him.

[sourmìlk]

Because it encourages more people who are more intelligent, and thus disagree with the birthers, to become interested in politics and vote. For every birther created by these stories, Adams argues, many more semi-intelligent people vote after having become interested in politics.

I make no judgement as to whether Scott's claims are accurate, however I did think you were misrepresenting him.

[Spambot5546]

Sockpuppet!

[netcrusher88]

Because it encourages more people who are more intelligent, and thus disagree with the birthers, to become interested in politics and vote. For every birther created by these stories, Adams argues, many more semi-intelligent people vote after having become interested in politics.

That's not even remotely close to what he wrote.

[The Mighty Thesaurus]

Did anyone else see Orly Taitz on The Last Word?

[Dauric]

Did anyone else see Orly Taitz on The Last Word?

Some linkage for those who didn't but don't have enough crazy in their diet.

[sourmìlk]

Because it encourages more people who are more intelligent, and thus disagree with the birthers, to become interested in politics and vote. For every birther created by these stories, Adams argues, many more semi-intelligent people vote after having become interested in politics.

That's not even remotely close to what he wrote.

It pretty much is: it gets average (semi-intelligent) people involved.

It's healthy that we average citizens have some sort of topic in the political realm that will keep us engaged while also siphoning off some of our activist energy.

[JBJ]

A Birther is like a 5 year old asking "Are we there yet?" every 5 minutes on a 10 hour road trip. No answer you give will get them to quit asking and all it does is annoy the driver.

[Dauric]

A Birther is like a 5 year old asking "Are we there yet?" every 5 minutes on a 10 hour road trip. No answer you give will get them to quit asking and all it does is annoy the driver.

That's conspiracy theory in general.

In a way I miss the 90's. At least the conspiracy theories were cool, Aliens and space-going flying saucers, Suspiciously uniform "Men In Black" erasing people's minds, Government programs to research breeding humans and tentacle monsters from another dimension... Roswell autopsies... I mean this is the stuff you can write movies and TV series and games about.

And now: Birth certificates... Selective Service agreements... School transcripts... All because reality finally imitated all those movies where a black guy was president. I just don't see the D20 Modern: Birther Adventures really having much of an audience.

<sigh> They just don't make conspiracies like they used to.

[Aikanaro]

Yes, but at least now we can have an even more derisive nickname for those who still protest his eligibility: "Afterbirthers." Damn, between this and Teabaggers, the Conservatives are just getting a lock on all the idiotic group names....