Donald Trump Sued by NY Attorney General

If you think Donald Trump is looking pretty good
(for Donald Trump), it helps to know this shot is from
2004. Image from source, Chicago Tribune.

I can't stand Donald Trump. I've thought he was ridiculous from the first time I saw him, and haven't been dissuaded from that assessment in the 25 years or so since. He's a buffoon. He's proven to be a band-wagoner for any cause that he thinks will keep him in the limelight. He's been possibly the most visible "birther," an adherent of the complex web of self-contradictory (and discredited) conspiracy theories that says President Obama is secretly foreign. And in that endeavor, he has shown himself to be a transparent liar, who can't even keep the different elements of the theory straight.

So, git him, New York. There are very few prominent Americans so richly deserving of a public humiliation and takedown. And if you think I'm being harsh, rest assured I'm restraining myself.

[Excerpt]
 
Donald Trump investment school sued by NY attorney general

New York state's attorney general said on Sunday he has filed a $40 million lawsuit against Donald Trump and his for-profit investment school, accusing them of engaging in illegal business practices. . .

Read more at: Chicago Tribune

Points for Consistency: Orly Taitz Thinks Ted Cruz as Ineligible as Obama

Ted Cruz and his full-body frown, image from USNews

There is a bit of hilarity in the fact that Ted Cruz--Texas tea bagger extraordinaire--has designs on the presidency, but shares almost exactly the "disqualifying" parentage that said tea baggers assign to President Obama. Or rather, the "birther" variety of tea bagger imagines that President Obama is foreign born, and we already know that Cruz is foreign born.

Both men had mothers who were American Citizens, which would be enough in a sane world to be qualified for the presidency. Obama has the distinction of actually not being foreign born--unless you consider Honolulu, Hawaii to be "foreign"--making the whole birther genre to be rather laughable and stupid. But I wondered what the hardcore birthers would make of Cruz, a guy who is totally the bat in their belfry. My guess was that they'd do a bit of handwringing about his ineligibility, and then say that the point is now moot because of President Obama filling out his terms.

Orly Taitz, the hardest core of the hardcore birthers didn't disappoint me. She's basically done exactly that.

[Excerpt]

'Birther' Orly Taitz: Ted Cruz Has 'Basically the Same Issue as Obama'

Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, a likely candidate for president in 2016, released his Canadian birth certificate over the weekend, but that's unlikely to end discussion about whether he meets the Constitution's ill-defined standard of natural-born citizenship. . .

Read more at: USNews

Sen. Ted Cruz, Born in Canada, Wants to Run for President?

When I found out this guy was 42, it made me feel a whole lot
better about how I've aged. Oh, snap. Image from Washington Post.

Oh, the hilarity. Oh, the irony!

After legions of far-right wingers have spent five years building a tangled conspiracy that says Barack Obama is not a natural born citizen!!!!11!1!! for various reasons up to and including that they think he was born in Kenya, and that his father was a British National. Most disregard or deny the overwhelming evidence that Obama was born in Hawaii, which is in the United States, and that his mother was a citizen. And those who will even admit to those two things will contend that his dad's nationality (or his mother leaving the country for a number of years) still disqualifies Obama from being eligible for the presidency.

There's much (much, much, much) more to their convoluted, self-contradictory web of a theory, but that's the gist. And the funniest thing ever in this long, stupid story? Arch-right conservative hero, freshman Senator Ted Cruz (TX-naturally) wants to run for president. He's a rabble-rouser. He's a so-called strict Constitutional constructionist, and he likes being a total ass to anyone who doesn't agree with his philosophy. In short, he's a tea bagger wet dream. But guess what? His dad wasn't a citizen when he was born. His mom was. But he was born in a foreign country! He has less bona fides than Obama does, since we know Obama was born in the US.

So, birthers, what to do? Cheer on the most conservative (douchey, but you kind of like that) dude you could ever put up, and forget about your birther quest? Or stick to your principles, and watch Jeb (not Dubya) Bush or Chris (traitor) Christie take the nomination? Should the question come before them, it will be hilarious to watch. But ultimately, it may not matter, because though he's conservative, by today's definition, he's a spectacularly bad candidate.

[Excerpt]

5 Reasons Ted Cruz Would Be A Democrat’s Dream 2016 GOP Nominee

He May Do Worse With Latinos Than Mitt Romney

The New York Times’ Nate Silver looked at immigration reform and found that it could be a bonanza for Republicans if they can pull it off without alienating their white base. They also need to pull it off without further alienating Latinos who voted for Mitt Romney in smaller numbers than they voted for John McCain, who they voted for in smaller numbers than George W. Bush. . .

Read more at: The National Memo

Conspiracy Corner: The Right-Wing Media Food Chain

This clip from Martin Bashir is an excellent deconstruction of how a crazy conspiracy theory goes from an ultra-fringe blog, to the bigger right-wing sites, to The Drudge Report, onto FOX "News," to crazy-ass questions at important press conferences, and sometimes--sadly--all the way up to and from Capital Hill. Kudos to Bashir, and his guests Ryan Grim of Huffington Post, and Jonathan Alter, who I've liked since his days on The Al Franken Show.

Rachel Maddow Roasts Conspiracy Theorists

You've got your birthers, your after-birthers, your truthers, your didn't-really-land-on-the-mooners, and countless other -ers. But they just keep getting dumber. Including "skeeters." Por ejemplo. . .

Visit NBCNews.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

Visit NBCNews.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

Wingnuts Want to Impeach Chief Justice Roberts

Image from source, Wonkette

World Net Daily is like the political equivalent to The Weekly World News (you know, the Bat Boy! paper). There isn't a thing at the site that should be taken seriously. But it's readership takes it deadly seriously. Which is why most people refer to it as World Nut Daily. I mean, let's face it, they hired Rick (don't Google me) Santorum to make themselves seem less nuts. I know, right?

So anyway, WND has been one of the most visible birther outlet on the web, desperate to prove that President Barack Obama is Kenyan. Or Canadian. Or a Manchurian Candidate. Or gay. Or a gay murderer. It doesn't matter that their collection of conspiracy theories is ridiculous and often self-contradictory. Any tangent, any thread, any thing that might make a person dislike the President a little bit more, make him seem a little less legitimate. That's their whole game. But this one may be just a bit far from their original premise.

[Excerpt]

WND Will Impeach Chief Justice For Swearing In Whats-His-Name, The Black Guy
 
The good folks of WND are award-winning journalists for a reason, and that reason is that they are NOT CRAZY AT ALL. Having failed to impeach the usurper (YET), and having failed with their clever extra-democratic plan to deny him a quorum of electors, they have demanded that Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts refrain from swearing him in, with a sternly worded open letter. Oh no they di’int! Oh yes they did!. . .

Read more at:  Wonkette

Every Obama Conspiracy in One Diagram (Mother Jones)

So much crazy in such a little space!

Click to embiggen, or go to source: MotherJones

Hat tip to Facebook/high school friend Katie Ryan

OMG! Obama Birth Video by Obama's Father IN KENYA!!!

Oh the humanity hilarity! The birthers have been going on so long about forgeries and fakes that "prove" President Barack Hussein Obama wasn't born in Kenya, they've gone and created a video that "proves" he was!

Or at least, that's what I assume happened. It is possible, I suppose, that this was produced by someone on Obama's side, to send the birthers right over the edge. It's "real" enough to convince a conspiracy theorist, but fake enough to spot if you are unindoctrinated. The flaws in the video--gleaned from user comments, personal research and some good old fashioned reason, include (but are not limited to):

• The Kenyan flag shown in the video wasn't in use when Obama was born.
• The picture of Mrs. Obama is from a 1964 passport.
• Mrs. Obama's maiden name is used, and is written in marker, something that wasn't in use in 1961.
• The "newborn" Obama is enormous, and his "umbilical cord" seems to be held in place by one of the people in the video.
  The scratches and dust in the video match special effects filters found in video editing software.
• The placement of the photograph, chart, flag and calendar are very conspicuous, as though they were placed there to "prove" the "film" is real.
• The mother doesn't look like Mrs. Obama.

There is more to be found surely. But isn't that enough? Birther fraud and fail. And doesn't it make you wonder if this is what Donald Trump was really going to release?

Video and much commentary found at: ObamaConspiracy.org

In Case You Missed It: Rachel Maddow on Birther Claim that Obama is Secretly Gay

Rachel Maddow is ten times more generous than I could ever be to World Nut Net Daily, viewing them as a sort of entertainment. I find them hilarious too, but terribly sad in that otherwise rational people may believe the garbage they push. As Birther-central, WND starts out with a huge credibility problem, since Birtherism is wholly and completely without merit. So, I guess the whole site is sort of like the Weekly World News of right-wing politics, and saying outrageous things about President Obama is their "bat boy."

Their latest schtick--aided by alleged Hillary Clinton supporter, HillBuzz's ridiculous Kevin DuJan--is to claim that Obama is secretly gay. Before Michelle, he was married to a dude, who he bumped off. The evidence for this offshoot of birtherism is scant, to be generous. And it was handled with precisely the right level of snark and humor by Rachel Maddow this past Friday. If you want to know more about this crackpot theory, and be entertained at the same time, watch.

Visit NBCNews.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

What's the Matter With Kansas?: Birthers Want Obama Removed from Ballot

He's not embarrassed. He should be, but he's not.
Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach. Image from TPM.

There's a lot of ridiculousness in politics these days, but nothing tops the "Birthers." These people have concocted a convoluted set of (sometimes self-contradictory) conspiracy theories about President Barack Obama and his eligibility for the office of president. Some of what they believe is based on very sketchy, old case law about the meaning of "natural born citizen." Some of it is a wholly concocted fantasy, in which Obama's mother traveled to Kenya whilst very pregnant, gave birth there (or elsewhere on the way home or something), and then smuggled little Barry into the country, all the while orchestrating false evidence that he was born in Hawaii. Using the expensive and complicated travel and communications technology available in 1961. All in anticipation that her half-black, half white child with "Hussein" as a middle name would one day run for president and need to have citizenship to do so.

ZOMG! It has layers! I debunked the amateur
analysis of the allegedly "fake" Obama long-form
birth certificate HERE.

Believing such (utterly without evidence) nonsense isn't so hard to understand when you consider the significant overlap of young-earth creationists in this crowd, who believe that all evidence of an old earth is put there by God to test our faith, or the Devil to lead us astray. They're not deep thinkers, and are seemingly eager to believe anything that supports their story, and able to ignore evidence to the contrary. For the record, every single aspect of Birtherism has been debunked, in a very detailed and organized way at ObamaConspiracy.org. If you even have an ounce of doubt, go there, poke around, you'll see what I mean.

The fact that a conspiracy theory has become almost mainstream in Republican politics is a frightening thing. It's something you tolerate in your weird Uncle Rick. It's not something you expect in an elected official. Kansas is not alone in having a prominent birther in office, but they are a state with a lot of embarrassing politics, including creationism in science class. What is it going to take to get these people to see Barack Obama as an ordinary person, and not a statist, Maoist, Marxist, socialist, fascist, communist, Kenyan, Muslim, Black-Identity-Christian, Godless, far-left radical Alinskyite? And do you really still want to tell me this has nothing to do with the fact that he's. . . black?

[Excerpt]

Kansas Goes Birther: State Board Considers Removing Obama From Ballot

Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach, an informal advisor to Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney, said on Thursday he and his fellow members of a state board were considering removing President Barack Obama from the Kansas ballot this November. . .

Read more at: Talking Points Memo

In Case You Missed It: Chris Matthews Sinks His Teeth into Reince Priebus

I've never been a fan of the leaders of the parties, at least while they hold that job. Absolutely everything they say publicly is through a BS filter. In fact, it's instructive that RNC Chairman Reince Priebus has a name that breaks down to RNC PR BS if you extract the vowels. But it was fun to see Priebus get his ass handed to him by Chris Matthews.

BirtherFest '12 with Pat Boone and Sheriff Joe Arpaio!

Let's just get this out of the way: "Birthers" are gullible, very likely racist fools, and Sheriff Joe Arpaio is King Moron. I don't say this because I don't like them (for the record, I don't) or from a place of ignorance and supposition. I've been following the birther phenomenon since its infancy, and have personally interacted with them both in their spaces and in mine.  They are tremendously argumentative, but don't argue logically. If you squash one of their (many, varied and often self-contradictory) parts to their theories, they change the subject. They have no problem with ignoring things that don't fit their narrative, and experts at hammering in puzzle pieces that don't really fit. They're insulting when you get a lick in, and falsely inquisitive and "concern trollish" if you manage to calm them down.

Image from Phoenix New Times
Click to embiggen.

The difference between a birther and any other conspiracy theorist is that in other conspiracies: 9/11 truthers, JFK conspiracy believers, moon landing deniers; all have at least semi-plausible reasons for their beliefs, at least at their beginnings. The moon landing was pivotal in the space race, and in the Cold War, making people wonder if it was faked in order to win that battle. The "magic bullet" theory in the JFK assassination is seemingly impossible. The events of 9/11 are difficult to explain, such as how it is that our military was unable to intercept four hijacked planes, how WTC 7 collapsed, and several other issues. All of those theories snowballed to ridiculous lengths, and all have those nagging self-contradictory (and implausible) elements. But all of them have parts that can make an otherwise sane, rational person go, hmmmmm. . . 

Birtherism isn't much like that. Oh, maybe for a minute, when the President's long-form birth certificate was found to have (gasp!) layers!!!1!!11! you might do a Scooby-Doo "HUNH?!?" Until you figure out that it is merely due to the scanning process (debunked myself, here). But there was no reason to suspect that Barack Obama was born anywhere other than Hawaii, as he has always maintained. There is no plausible storyline or evidence that puts Mrs. Obama in Kenya in August of 1961. None. Zero. Zip. Remember, this was a time of much more limited (and expensive) air travel and communications technology. The fact that two different papers had birth announcements proclaiming (in 1961!) Obama's birth puts a nail squarely in the birther coffin. Except, that birtherism is sort of undead, impervious to truthy wooden stakes and rational silver bullets. They are basically now, after-birthers, and they cling to their multiple theories even though they've all been disproved. If you don't believe me, you can check out virtually every birther nugget--all debunked--at ObamaConspiracy.org, as I've said several times before.

Still, amazingly enough, though their numbers have thinned, the after-birthers have got some heavy hitters on their side. Well, such as they are. There's a BirtherCon coming up in September, and the average age of its two biggest stars, one-time singer Pat Boone and Arizona's batshit crazy Sheriff Joe Arpaio--is 79 years old. I don't know if these men and the others appearing at the event are so stupid and/or gullible to believe in what they're saying. They may just be in it for the acclaim and the paycheck. But the swarm that attends is going to be made up of some very scary dudes.

[Excerpt]

Joe Arpaio, Pat Boone and Teabaggers Galore Hold BirtherFest September 22 at Celebrity Theatre

. . .The flier for the event promises that the 78 year-old Christian crooner will sing as well as speak. Wonder if he'll do any tunes from his 1997 album In a Metal Mood: No More Mr. Nice Guy. Always loved his cover of "Smoke on the Water." Not sure who the old biddies will be swoonin' for more, Boone, or geriatric heartthrob Sheriff Joe Arpaio, who'll be presiding at the event as Birther-in-Chief. . .

Read more at: Phoenix New Times

Conspiracy Corner: Joe Arpaio Still Pushing Birtherism

In several posts, I've lamented the many and varied web of conspiracy theories known collectively as "birtherism." Birthers all believe that for one reason or another, President Barack Hussein!!! Obama is ineligible to hold office. Some believe Obama is a criminal who has knowingly lied his way into office, knowing full well that he isn't a "natural born citizen." Others claim no such charges, and simply assert that he's invalid by reason of a technicality.

What is in the water in Arizona? Image from Gawker.

When Obama released his "long form" birth certificate, he'd finally met the condition set out by nearly every birther of every stripe: "produce the certificate, and this will all go away." Needless to say--after the less crazy ones defected--the remaining birthers declared the long form to be a forgery. They did extensive analysis (on YouTube, so it must be true) on the document. No, wait, hold the phone. . .they did extensive analysis on the PDF scan of the document. Which is pointless, stupid and to the extent they've gone on this thing, absolutely batshit insane.

I covered and debunked the analysis in a lengthy post (with a far lengthier argument with birthers in the comments section) over a year ago. And since then, it's safe to bet on two things: a) more former birthers have jumped ship, and b) the remaining ones are even more entrenched.

Some birthers go so far as to say that old pictures like
this one are all forgeries, and doubt the parentage of the
President, both his father and his mother. Ca-RAY-zee!
Image from USAToday.

Since the far right-wing essentially ate the entire Republican Party, fringe beliefs have taken center stage, and Birtherism is one of those things. Several mainstream elected officials have pandered to their lunatic base by dog-whistling to them. Donald Trump has come right out and espoused (badly parsed) birther talking points. He lied and said he had investigators in Hawaii uncovering all kinds of things. But we know he lied because he eventually dropped it.

Sheriff Joe Arpaio--one of several batshit crazy right-wing heroes--did not drop it. And he actually did send investigators to Hawaii. He even held a (invitation only!) press conference about his latest "findings" on Tuesday afternoon. And since Obama is now in federal prison, and Joe Biden installed as President, you can see that it worked! Or not.

One more thing. Every single birther nugget has been debunked, and can be found at ObamaConspiracy. I highly recommend the site if you've ever even entertained a portion of this nuttiness.

[Excerpt]

Joe Arpaio Holds Press Conference to Let America Know He’s Still a Wingnut

Good news, birthers — Joe Arpaio is sure President Obama's birth certificate is fradulent.
Sheriff Joe held a press conference this evening to continue spouting off about his conspiracy theory, complete with a team of "experts" to verify his claims. . .

Read more at: Gawker

Orly Taitz Gets to Finish on The Stephanie Miller Show

Image from HuffPo

After a back-and-forth of commentary on The Stephanie Miller Show, about Orly Taitz, followed by an internet message from Orly about Steph (and so on), a meeting was finally set up. The on-air crew was skeptical that the birther queen would actually show up, but she ultimately did.

I heard the interview on the radio at work, so I'm kind of sorry that this video clip is so short. It was actually quite a good interview, with Steph asking questions in a measured, cool way. Not respectful, not exactly. I mean, could you pull that off? But she managed not to ruffle Orly's feathers while getting some digs in.

The whole birther conspiracy theory ought to have played out by now, since their entire premise is shaky. There is zero evidence that Mrs. Obama was ever in Kenya, and it is difficult to put together any story that would make sense. In addition, every part of their splintered, multi-track conspiracy theory has been debunked (go here, if you don't believe me). So, Orly is singing a tired song. Still, it was entertaining radio.

[Excerpt]


Orly Taitz Compares Self To Nelson Mandela and Thurgood Marshall, Accuses Obama's Mother Of Fraud

Birther queen Orly Taitz compared herself to Nelson Mandela and Thurgood Marshall, claimed President Barack Obama could be deported and accused Obama's mother of fraud during a radio interview Tuesday morning. . .

Read more at: Huffington Post

Orly Taitz NOT a Winner in Senate Primary

Dr. Orly Taitz, Esq.

California had a weird primary this year, dumping all of the candidates--Republican, Democrat and otherwise--into one primary election, with the two top winners facing off in November. Why? Yeah, I don't know. Anyway, the one big worry was that "Birther Queen" Orly Taitz could have been in the #2 slot for Senate after Diane Feinstein.

Orly (a word that is short for "oh, really?" in internet speak) Taitz is the seemingly crazy lost Gabor sister. She is--if I'm not mistaken--a lawyer/dentist/real estate agent. And she is on a loony crusade to get President Obama ejected from the White House on the grounds that he is ineligible to be President. She has many different reasons for this, from his "fake" birth certificate(s), alleged numerous Social Security numbers, some strange stuff about him being adopted, dual or renounced citizenship, just all kinds of stuff. Some of it self-contradictory.

I could go on and on about Orly, but I won't. She--luckily for the California and national GOP--will not be a candidate for Senate. Her quixotic quest to unseat Obama has seen nothing but defeat, and sometimes punishment from the judiciary. As such, unless she goes on a murderous rampage, has sex reassignment surgery or reveals herself to be Andy Kaufmann, I expect this to be my last post, ever on Dr. Orly Taitz, Esq.

The cat is mine, the hair is Orly's.

[Excerpt]


Sen. Dianne Feinstein is assured a spot on fall ballot

Feinstein captured about 51% of the early balloting, assuring her a place in the general election under the state's new "top-two" primary rules. . .[Susan] Emken was among 14 Republicans wanting to take on Feinstein. Others included Oceanside businessman Dan Hughes and dentist/attorney Orly Taitz of Laguna Niguel, who gained name recognition for her efforts to show that President Obama was not born in the U.S. . .

Read more at: Los Angeles Times

I'm a Birther (Wouldn't You Like to be a Birther Too?)

Another one on the nose from Rocky Mountain Mike (formerly Mike in Raleigh of The Stephanie Miller Show). This one is--obviously, if you were alive in the 70s--a parody of Dr. Pepper's Be a Pepper.

Lawrence O'Donnell on "Bloviating Ignoramus" Donald Trump

Three posts in a row about Donald Trump is at least two too many, but I couldn't resist adding this one. Nobody, but nobody does a better deconstruction of the "bloviating ignoramus" (™ George Will) than Lawrence O'Donnell. I don't know if there is something between Trump and O'Donnell from the past, or if O'Donnell just likes to deflate monstrous egos. But it doesn't matter, whatever it is about, it produces great television.

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

Donald Trump is a Moron, Mitt Romney a Chump

This should be embarrassing. This, at least. I know that politics--at least on the Republican side--is scarcely different from professional wrestling. But something should be a bridge too far, something should be off the list. That a buffoon like Donald Trump tries to bigfoot his way into politics is not surprising. But that the now official nominee on the Republican side would actively court Trump's endorsement; to effectively use him as a campaign surrogate. . .that should be embarrassing.

And let me be clear. It isn't just that the Donald is a birther. That's stupid enough, of course. There isn't a shred of legitimacy in that loony nest of self-contradictory conspiracy theories. But it's that he's a bad birther. He loosely strings together snippets of birtherism, mangles them and gets them wrong. He talks about Obama's grandmother saying Obama was born in Kenya. . .but it was a step-grandmother, one who was mistranslated, one who corrected the record in the same interview. And he doesn't just get shit wrong, he lies at the same time. Is there anyone gullible enough to believe that Trump really hired investigators and sent them to Hawaii? Or that if he did (he didn't), he won't talk about it now, because it's "old news?" I know birthers are thick, but even they should see through this clown. And Romney should have backed away long ago.

Mitt Romney and The Donald and Birthers

Willard will do anything for votes. Clearly. Image from CNN.

I'm not sure how to parse this Mitt Romney statement, regarding Donald Trump:

“You know, I don't agree with all the people who support me and my guess is they don't all agree with everything I believe in,” Romney said. “But I need to get 50.1% or more and I'm appreciative to have the help of a lot of good people.”

So, the people he's latching on to are there to get him votes. . .even if Mitt himself isn't on board with those peoples' agendas? How does this work? I seriously don't get it. In this case, you've got Trump who is espousing the ludicrous (and largely racist) "Birther" nonsense. So, Mitt, you're cool with that if it gets you votes?

Source: CNN

Hawaii Turns the Tables on AZ Secretary of State's Birther Request

I'm amazed--I shouldn't be, but I am--that this birther nonsense is still managing to worm itself into the news cycle, but there you go. We've now got a couple of stories from there, and both from Arizona! Figures, right?

Conspiracy theories are irresistible to people who are desperate to disbelieve something. People who couldn't believe that Lee Harvey Oswald was the lone gunman that killed John F. Kennedy, concocted conspiracy theories to explain that it wasn't true. People who couldn't believe a group of terrorists with boxcutters could bring down the World Trade Center towers, invented conspiracy theories to explain that it wasn't true. And, people who just couldn't believe that a black man named Barack Hussein Obama was elected President of the United States, invented conspiracy theories to prove that he couldn't be. . .legally, anyway.

There are people who could harp on me for saying it was because he's a black man, but tell me why else they're trying to say he was born in Kenya? Why they weren't concerned that John McCain was born in Panama. C'mon, let's be real here. And notice that I didn't say "conspiracy theory," but "theories." In every master conspiracy theory, there are offshoots and tangents, and the craziest of the crazy. You can't consolidate them all into a unified theory because they don't mesh. And whatever you do, don't try to create a logical, cohesive narrative of what really happened.

Because, in the case of the "Obama was born in Kenya" theory, you've got to place Stanley Ann Dunham (Obama's mother) in Kenya, something that has never been proven. You'd have to explain why she was there, and how she got there. This was 1961, a time when air travel was much more expensive and difficult. And she was very pregnant, unless she was in Kenya a long time. And you have to account for this white, pregnant lady's presence in a place where Obama Sr. apparently had another wife. Then she has to give birth.

What a birther looks like. Kinda Huckabee-lite.
Image from source, The Raw Story.

After that, she's got to get home quickly. She has to--for some reason--smuggle little Barack into the United States with no paperwork. She has to arrange--using 1961 communication devices--to have two newspapers get birth announcements published. And she has to leave no paper trail that she made the trip! And why in the world would she make this secret trip? That's just skimming the surface of the problems with the story.


Fortunately, we need not strain our brains trying to figure this idiotic story out, because others have done that. Literally every single birther theory and "fact" has been debunked.  Go to ObamaConspiracy.org if you don't believe me. If Dr. Conspiracy can't convince you, you're without hope. But in this world of "the extreme right is now the mainstream," even this nutty theory is being touted by elected officials. But at least some of them are getting their noses rubbed in it.

[Excerpt]


Hawaii turns tables on Arizona Secretary of State’s birther requests

Hawaiian officials have apparently had enough of your requests for President Barack Obama’s birth certificate and they’re not afraid to tell you where to get off, even if you are Arizona’s Secretary of State Ken Bennett or a special delegation sent by Maricopa County’s controversial “Sheriff Joe. . .”

Read more at: The Raw Story


UPDATED: I just wanted to note that I went to FreeRepublic.com to see the arch-right (and oddly, now mainstream) take on this story. I said--as I clicked enter--"They got to him!" And here's what the first comment says:

"Sounds like someone got to him."

2posted on Tuesday, May 22, 2012 4:32:34 PMby BlessedBeGod

 

Thanks for not disappointing me, FReepers!