Desperation Row

biggest surprise ever.

2009-01-22T12:07:00.000-08:00

well this sure comes as a complete surprise. NOTE THE SARCASM!!11!!1one!

api's sammy korir closes the book on another chapter of lies without a single shred of evidence by claiming he's dropping the issue out of the good of his heart, instead of admitting to being more full of shit than john mccain's depends after a long day eating prunes and creamed corn.

i've already unsubscribed from the API blog, not wanting to give them any benefit of additional hits by visiting their crappy site, and with the closure of this ordeal i'll be unsubscribing from mountain sage as well, since i only used them to keep track of this nonsense. i urge everyone who reads this (both of you) to avoid these sites as well so they are not encouraged by visitors into mistakenly thinking they are relevant and/or trusted news sources. yes, i realize the irony in that this blog was started because of their blogs in the first place...but hypocrisy aside, i'll continue to post on the most egregious and/or heinous false news claims and faked outrage from the right, so stay tuned!

To all the haters

2009-01-20T11:56:00.001-08:00

On this day, the 20th of January 2009, as we inaugurate our 44th President Barack Obama, I just want to take a moment to offer the following message of solidarity to those who challenged the eligibility, qualification, and integrity of our new commander in chief:

SUCK IT.

And, choke on it too. I'm looking at you Gateway Pundit, API's Sammy Korir, the extreme right-wing whack jobs in the blogosphere, conservative talk radio and Fixed News...all of you who have fought tooth and nail to keep this man out of office with no good reason other than selfish ignorance and fear. Go fuck yourselves each and every one of you and I hope you're miserable for the next 4-8 years.

Everyone else, enjoy! And get back to work because we've got a long way to go before we can relax and enjoy peace and prosperity again.

A little background

2008-12-23T12:23:00.001-08:00

The kind folks over at MountainSage blog have done quite a bit of background research on Sammy Korir of API, so instead of rehashing it all out I just wanted to link for reference:

http://mountainsageblog.com/2008/12/23/sammys-good-life-in-norway-part-1-by-grace/

Things have been pretty quiet over at API and I'm not expecting more than a couple more long-winded posts about how much they respect all their enemies and more unsubstantiated stories about clandestine operations and meetings with unnamed officials that ultimately result in...nothing.

Breaking News: AOL Users will believe anything

2008-12-17T14:29:00.000-08:00

Okay maybe I'm picking low hanging fruit lately...but I'm still amused by this. I'm still amused by flatulence and potty humor in general though so put that in perspective...

Anyway, as the headline from World Net Daily reports (and by the source you should already know this is meaningless propaganda), the Obama citizenship issue has merit according to an AOL poll.

Stop there, take a second to soak it in....

Yeah, they are quoting the results of a survey of the most technologically inept people in America as breaking news. Those people were asked whether they believe in a conspiracy theory with nothing but hearsay and fear to back it up. And SURPRISE!!!!! Half of them believe it!

Who would have ever thought AOL users, the shrinking population of tailored-internet experience customers, without broadband internet or the smarts to use it, who haven't figured out how to get a free email address from a million other providers, would be the type of people to believe conspiracy theories over available evidence?

Could anyone have imagined that Grandma Betty Sue (a.k.a. NanaPuddin1914@aol), who invested all of her Social Security checks in Beanie Babies and Nigerian Prince Scams, would be likely to put her faith in whacked out 911 Truthers and radical evangelical Bible thumpers who apparently are all experts in Photoshop and Constitutional Law?

Thanks WND for this hard-hitting journalism.

OH NOES!!11!!1 A picture that proves he tells the truth!

2008-12-17T11:21:00.000-08:00

Get out the paper towels and prepare to wipe the flying spittle off your monitor wingnuts because this is gonna BLOW! YOUR! MIND! Gateway Pundit (with a little help from a completely unknown non-mainstream media outlet called TIME) uncovers this tremendously damaging story which TIME (oh wait, that's right, they are mainstream, so forget about them revealing truth by posting this picture, instead it is evidence they were HIDING it, yeah that's the ticket) of Barack Obama ILLEGALLY SMOKING POT and/or TOKING A REEFER!!!!!111!!one!! (while as a teenager, in his college years, to which he has openly admitted already in his book but because he is such a liar nobody would ever believe it and now that these pictures are out it's going to change everything for the illiterate jizz-moppers who didn't bother to read this readily available information previously)

Whew. That was some serious outrage there, I hope everyone is ok. Now back to your regularly scheduled infomercials and tele-evangelists, thanks for checking in.

Thanks for the shoes, and you're welcome for the freedom.

2008-12-16T09:44:00.000-08:00

With the recent news about the Iraqi journalist who threw his shoes at President Bush in Iraq, we've seen the wingnutosphere spinning out of control to turn this story into pompous propaganda about freedom. And along with the President's reaction, one might assume that this is indeed no big deal and that the Bush Administration along with conservative media voices are proud that this frustrated journalist was able to express himself in such a meaningful way without fear of being destroyed by the tyranny of Saddam.

Here are a few examples:

America's Right

Gateway Pundit

As usual, Jeff at America's Right at least does some justice to the story; he adds a relevant movie quote for a dash of humor, briefly touches on the fact that this was an expression of frustration and even seems compassionate that one could feel that way...on the other hand, that blathering idiot over at Gateway Pundit continues to pound the keyboard in spittle-flying-from-the-lips blind rage, completely ignoring the underlying message. It's mostly the same righteous indignation and typical ignorance you've come to expect from this jackass. He refuses to even acknowledge the severity of the insult. In the muslim world, showing someone the bottom of your shoe is an extreme insult, as is calling them a "dog" - this journalist did both. Of course Gateway Pundit (and George Bush) are oblivious to the meaning behind this act. Bush dismisses it entirely by joking about it and says it doesn't bother him. If a man with any compassion had been shown the greatest insult imaginable by someone who has been directly impacted by that man's own actions and influence, a man with compassion would reflect on that insult and what it really says. No, Bush brushes it off, and right-wing bloggers praise the war (which we have/haven't won depending on the day and who you hear it from) and the freedom it has given those Iraqis to express themselves without fear of tyrannic oppression.

I appreciate that because of the war in Iraq and the removal of Saddam that these people enjoy greater freedoms than they have had before. That point is not lost on me. However you can't simply ignore the meaning of the message for the fact that this person was able to make his statement. You can't have one without the other. And it's not like the guy was throwing shoes at his own leaders, which surely would be much more harshly dealt with...I can only imagine the kind of tackling you'd get if you threw a shoe at Bush at a press conference in the US...but no, he threw it at a foreign leader who has caused great distress in his country.

I'm pretty sure the message was not "Thanks for the freedom and many reasons to hate your president".

Looks like API is going to have to be dragged away kicking and screaming

2008-12-15T11:39:00.000-08:00

API is not quite ready to throw in the towel it seems. Their latest post sounds like the story is coming to an end however as they have done in their last several posts, there is no conclusion to draw from the muddy story they are pushing on their readers. The only purpose of this post isto cast blame for their own failed attempts at someone else. I don't doubt there will probably be a few more posts with equally vague, inconclusive, and impossible to prove details to further the story just a little more. But when they start claiming that Obama's own operatives have stepped in to bring closure to the story, that doesn't leave many options left. Of course, when no details are given and no probable outcome is outlined, it leaves the door open for anything so API can retain some visitors. Seeing as how today the Electoral College meets and API has failed to make good on any of its promises, the relevancy of this story is now completely gone...no matter what happens (which will be ultimately nothing since it has all been a lie), now API has played their last card to shift blame away from themselves and they can no longer hope to have any impact whatsoever.

It's not just like beating a dead horse at this point, but more like finding a rotten horse skeleton, putting the horse's carcass on wheels, getting atop the deceased horse, and riding it down a hill while whipping it vigorously to go faster. Then when the horse gets to the bottom of the hill, and everyone looks at you wondering what the hell you are doing, you jump off and start blaming the onlookers for killing your horse.

Here's a link to the bullshit from API. Of course there are no details upon which to fact check and no independent sources to back up his claims. If he really did meet with someone, who's to say they are actually who they say they are? What sort of agreement did Sammy sign as he claims and what effect will it have on airing the MO tapes or the Imam document he lies about? We don't know, he doesn't actually say. So there was a meeting with unidentifiable people where they signed an unidentifiable document of unknown origins about an agreement which somehow ends this story in an unknown way...and still Sammy claims he has demands to be met (here's the kicker) which will come to light within 7 days if the information he claims to have is not to be made public.

So if your demands aren't met by next week then you will make the information public? Not likely. Just another cock-tease from Norway's biggest attention whore, Cheif Editor Sammy Arap Korir.

And in case you wanted to ask any questions, comments on the site have been turned off yet again.

Joe the Pussy

2008-12-09T19:20:00.001-08:00

Way to stand up for your beliefs, you pansy-ass bitch.

“I asked him some pretty direct questions,” he continued. “Some of the answers you guys are gonna receive — they appalled me, absolutely. I was angry. In fact, I wanted to get off the bus after I talked to him.”

So why didn't you?

Wurzelbacher said, “honestly, because the thought of Barack Obama as president scares me even more.”

Pussy. I'm impressed you made it out of the house for this interview, what with all the scary black men on the loose.

But wait...there's more:

While Wurzelbacher was critical of McCain during the interview, he had nothing but praise for his running mate, Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin. “Sarah Palin is absolutely the real deal,” he said.

Yeah, she's every bit the attention whore you are. You two were made for each other, tell that douchebag on the snowmobile to shove off, the Turd Wrangler's movin' in!

The Root of all Wingnutterdom

2008-12-09T11:15:00.000-08:00

Once again I find myself praising Jeff Schneider's America's Right blog...certainly he may not intend his writings to support my causes, however I think he'd appreciate the accolades. I continue to find Jeff's updates coherent, rational, and meaningful despite being unapologetically conservative. In his coverage of the press conference of those who challenge Obama's eligibility for office, I found this nugget of information which I believe cuts straight to the core of what people like Donofrio, Berg, and Schulz are really trying to prove with their questions and claims...

In reporting the various statements from those individuals presenting at the conference, America's Right posts:

Schulz stated that “as supreme law of the land, the Constitution is all that stands between freedom and tyranny.” He noted that “the Constitution is not a menu” and that we “do not get to pick and choose” which provisions and guidelines to follow, maintaining that the Natural Born Citizen clause was designed by our founders to “safeguard our nation from outside influence.”

This is the first of two common themes we see from the right wing as they attack Obama. Those two themes being fear of Islam and racism, thought not always the way you think, as I'll show you in a moment. Clearly, the "outside influence" that Schulz is referring to here can only be construed as Islamic influence, because these wingnuts believe Obama is a secret Muslim. What other influence would they be concerned with? What other connections has Obama been purported to have that don't fall under the umbrella of scary brown people? Islam would be the obvious target, although I'll concede that surely there are those that would draw communism or totalitarianism into the mix for some small reason or another...but if you're going to make waves you need to put your weight behind pushing the big rock into the water and I think Islamic influence is the biggest rock they've got.

Now my second point on racism, I mentioned, isn't what you'd normally think. Ironically, I'm talking about reverse racism here, against whites...now why would racism against whites have an effect on a black president? The answer lies here in the flambouyant rantings of Rev. James David Manning, who prays that "this long-legged mack-daddy will not be allowed to take the oath of office on the 20th of January."

“This has been a historical election, and January 20th will be a historical day,” Manning said. “However, the road to the office of president of the United States still runs exclusively through the womb of a white woman. There has never been a black womb which has produced a black president. As of today, unless you have a white womb, you cannot produce a son who will be president of the United States.”

“We don’t know who this man is,” he said, cautioning his fellow African-Americans not to accept this fruit of a white woman as their redeemer. “He’s no Booker T. Washington, I’ll tell you that. He’s no Martin Luther King. But he does possess the potential to be the most prolific con-man in the history of this country. It is my prayer that January 20th will not happen, that Barack Hussein Obama will not be inaugurated. This man has come from the womb of a white woman.”

Manning, being unable to participate in racism of the traditional sense that the rest of us enjoy (hint of sarcasm, if you please) finds a way to reverse the discrimination against whites and offers his valuable input on why Obama must be doubted. Forget about all those trailer-trash white supremacists decrying Obama's blackness as a reason why he should not be president, for a black man, Obama isn't black enough since he had a white mom and therefore the historic significance of electing a black man is negated.

So, there you have it...when given the opportunity to make their case, the retarded right will never fail to show their true colors and reveal the fear and hatred that fuels their constant struggle for attention in the absence of any real issue to argue.

And again, thanks to America's Right for reporting on this momentous exhibition of stupidity and ignorance. I really do respect your writing and viewpoints Jeff and you've maintained a level of journalistic integrity in your reports that deserves my compliments. I don't agree with you on many points but I certainly appreciate your diligence in reporting relevant topics to conservatism...and I'm happy to eat it up and crap it back out all over the folks who give your kind a bad name.

Yeah RIGHT!

2008-12-08T13:35:00.000-08:00

I know it's been a few days since I rapped at ya....(thanks to Jim Anchower for that one), but this is just beyond incredible. That he would even consider reporting this complete non-sequiter is proof positive how full of shit the Chief Editor really is. I know he's got a handful of slobbering mongoloid conspiracy wingnuts eating out of his grubby hands, but this is pushing the limits for even those retards to swallow. After all the nonsense he's posted, fear he has preached, lies and excuses to perpetuate those lies he's told and for none of the proof he's ever provided to give himself the tiniest bit of credibility, now the editor of API wants us to believe he's being invited to Obama's inauguration. Seriously?!

Clearly, I think, the motive here is to insinuate somehow that Obama's people are trying to "trick" Korir into letting down his guard and becoming "captured" or some other ridiculous nonsense...obviously, there is no invitation to this schmuck. He's a nobody, and even if he were somebody, his actions and obvious disdain for Obama would definitely take him out of the running for an invitation to his inauguration as President. Beyond that, there's (as usual) not a scrap of evidence that he actually got any sort of invitation, not even a poorly worded email or photocopy to back up his word, which as we know, is just about as trustworthy as the guy selling speakers out of his non-descript white van in your local grocery store parking lot. I bet that guy has some delicious candy for your little ones, too...

Edit: Read the comments over there when you get a chance...priceless. The 2nd one down is the epitome of ingorance and dumbfuckery. Here it is to save you some time:

virginialee Says:
December 7, 2008 at 7:21 pm
Mr. Korir,

I personally believe that it would not only be dangerous for you to accept the invitation, but it would be very unwise. It appears to me that they are trying to buy silence from you. PLEASE DO NOT LET THEM DO IT!

The tape and Imam document are extremely important! Please do not let anything keep you from keeping your promise to air the tape and present the Imam document! I BELIEVE THE FUTURE OF OUR OUR NATION, OUR FREEDOM IS AT STAKE, AND ESPECIALLY THE FUTURE OF THE TRUE CHRISTIAN CHURCH. If Obama becomes our president, I truly believe the he will soon become dictator, will declare that our nation is Muslim and that Islam is the ONLY religion to be tolerated. There will be much persecution of true Christians.

PLEASE, MR. KORIR, RELEASE THE TAPE AND THE IMAM DOCUMENT AT ONCE AND HELP DELIVER US FROM THIS EVIL MAN!

Sean Hannity is a pompous asshole.

2008-12-04T12:17:00.000-08:00

Excuse me for bringing sand to the beach but I just thought it needed to be reiterated in case anyone forgot what a douchebag this guy is. Not only does he wrongfully assert that Fox News and talk radio are the only ways to stay informed, he contrasts these "crucial" media outlets with bumper stickers and commercials...as if the only alternative to his pretentious drivel and Rush Limbaugh's Oxycontin-fueled bigotry is the "Impeach Bush" and "End This War" stickers plastered to my neighbor's VW bus. There's certainly no way that NBC, ABC, CNN, or CBS could report any facts that didn't originate from a campaign slogan...

And I'm sure with all the time Hannity spends furiously masturbating to Ann Coulter's headshot he doesn't have a moment to read those studies that show Fox's viewers are the most misinformed Americans.

Fuck you, douchenozzle.

Look at me! I'm an attention whore!

2008-12-03T11:29:00.000-08:00

Chief Editor Korir is still at it, begging for attention and coming up with reasons to keep his story alive through manufactured crises and make-believe controversy. He still maintains he has the tapes and a document to prove Obama isn't what he says he is, but denies that his possession of the only evidence in existence bears him any responsibility to make it available.

I just don't get it. If you have the only evidence to back up outlandish claims which you have said will have a great impact on society, then it is your responsibility to do something with that evidence. Either release it or bury it, but stop talking about it if you're just going to claim it's not your place to make waves.

Put out or get out, as they say.

Here's the article, I just don't know what else to say...he claims he has a duty to fulfill his promises yet sets the stage for new veiled attacks from CIA operatives...I'm sure our gov't is putting lots of resources into this, yeah....

The intent to air the Michelle Obama tape before the Electoral College meets on the 15th December to take a decision on Mr Obama’s eligibility to the Presidency may be hindered by CIA Operatives’ intervention in Oslo.
from African Press International (API) by africanpress

On the 15th of October, API broke the news on the now heavily discussed Michelle Obama tape. The discussion has become controversial in that it has divided the people who have paid great attention to the whole situation. It has reached a point where there are believers and non-believers of the existence of the tape and the Imam-Obama document.

We have not had reason to believe that the tape is going to change the political-sphere in America totally, and yet we are of no doubt that its release and contents will cause a political storm due to different groupings having strong vested interests.

Many readers have tried the best they could to direct API to release the tape because they believe it will impact on something. We have those who do not wish for the tape to be released because they want the political situation to settle down and make history with Mr Barack Obama as the first black man to rule America.

API’s stand in all this is to do the right thing for America and the American people. These divisions dictated by self-interests makes it less easy for API to have a clear road map. However, API has a duty to fulfill what the people have been promised for the last 48 days.

Facts are facts and sometimes it is painful to deal with situations so factually dictated as this one of the Michelle Obama tape. The situation cannot be buried underground especially after the Imam’s document on Obama was brought to light.

Obama was elected the US president on the 4th of November this year and is yet to be sworn in if the Electoral College chooses to ignore the facts so strong, that if not dealt with properly, may cause the nation to land into a constitutional crisis or accept to be led by a Naturalized US Citizen, if Obama continues to refuse to see the need to come out in the open and admit that things are not as it seems to be in favour of him taking over a constitutionally protected seat in the country, unless he produces the much needed document, and in that case his move in that direction would render the Imam document on him to be null and void.

Ours has been to bring the facts to the American people, but we have discovered that some readers are of the opinion that it is API’s duty to be in the forefront in producing facts that may bring to light who their president-elect is as concerns citizenship and where he was born.

Many have tried to bulldoze API to move quickly in contacting the Electoral College and even proposing that API should make a submission to the Supreme Court in the matter. API has no interest in US internal affairs but we can only lend an hand by releasing the information in our possession.

The US government has shown keen interest in all this but has chosen to operate behind the scenes in consultation with API in an effort to reach an agreement on how best to get the information out without causing discomfort to many people, and creating a situation that will explode and may lead to uncontrolled civil disobedience.

Many have not understood the pressure API has had to go through in over 45 days since the story broke out. The warnings by CIA operatives has not made things easier and so has their refusal to accept the copy of the tape and the Imam’s document-copy, only demanding to have the originals putting API into a re-thinking position in the whole thing. The CIA operatives have been given the final offer to listen to the original tape, but with the presence of API’s Chief editor and API’s Canadian Lawyer, but that has not been welcomed, instead the demand to have the original and to listen to it alone has been given the highest priority, a choice that API has refused.

API has been warned several times that going ahead to pursue the release of the tape and the handing over of Imam’s Obama document may cause the authorities to react in a way unpleasant to all involved. API sympathisers have impressed upon API to drop the whole thing and down the tools if API wants have its peace intact.

A solution has to be reached and action taken before the Electoral College takes their final decision.

To be able to do this, API has been invited to Canada for an urgent meeting with the Canadian Lawyer and two MBO representatives (US and Canadian).

According to agreements, Mr Phil Berg will represent the Chief Editor’s personal interest should legal matters arise, while the Canadian Lawyer, assisted - will handle all matters that may arise from the tape and Imam’s Obama document.

During the meeting in Canada a press release will be issued on plans ready to be effected by bringing a case to the Court against Fox News whereby API is demanding damages from the Network for the breach of agreement to Air the tape before and by the 4th of November.

Chief Editor Korir

Give her the O-Face

2008-11-25T21:14:00.000-08:00

There are a lot of reasons to watch Keith Olbermann. He's intelligent, poignant, and sharp witted. But not often do we see this side of him...the child-like wonder and awe-struck delight on his face at around 4:56 in this video is the essence of the O-Face.

I think I'm gonna puke

2008-11-25T12:30:00.000-08:00

I admit it, Michelle Malkin is hot, even if I didn't have yellow fever. But Ann Coulter has a penis.

http://www.moonbattery.com/archives/2008/11/pretty_in_mink.html

sammy, imammy, obammy scammy whammy!

2008-11-25T02:52:00.000-08:00

yeah any day now...

edit: removing a misinformed rant from 3 am...

Fuck you Joe.

2008-11-24T11:31:00.000-08:00

Joe Lieberman is a piece of shit. It's bad enough that you went against your party, but even after being forgiven for being a piece of shit and being allowed to keep your post, you're going to lie about what you said during the campaign? Fuck you. At least own up to the fact that you said what you did and now you have to eat your words and get behind your president. Show some humility you gigantic douchebag.

http://thinkprogress.org/2008/11/24/lieberman-lies-i-never-felt-that-barack-obama-was-unready/

The art of making shit up

2008-11-22T19:27:00.000-08:00

What I've noticed most about the right-wing blog is their penchance for twisting, distorting, and simply fabricating stories in order to have something to say. And that's really all there is to it, the right has nothing to say, since everything in their playbook either comes from a 2000 year old book or a 20-year-gone presidency.

Instead of making a case for their beliefs about what needs to be done in this country, they just make shit up about liberals being a bunch of tree-worshipping welfare mongerers and how any voice of dissonance with the way things are is anti-American and tantamount to treason.

The latest entry of Gateway Pundit to his fear factory of a blog is this piece of tripe about how the praise from NOW of the rise of female voters in this historic election is somehow a snarky celebration of the defeat of one of their own. In fact, not once in NOW's article is Palin even mentioned, let alone referred to...so why did Gateway Pundit need to make it about her? I think they just can't function without some semblance of hate in their lives, whether it be from them towards another group (leftists, liberals, radicals, gays, minorities are always a solid bet) or by one of their detractors towards one of their own, which, of course, is usually highly manufactured. So they make shit up to lead people to believe they have been wronged and elicit some pitiful kind of sympathy, because those conservatives sure are a sensitive bunch.

I read the entire article on NOW's website and I thought it was worthy of posting in it's entirety, plus it feels a little like slapping Gateway Pundit in the face, so here it is.

http://www.now.org/news/note/111908.html

From Hope to Action to Victory

Below the Belt: A Column by NOW PAC Chair Kim Gandy

November 19, 2008

It's only been two weeks since I stood in the drizzling rain and waited on line to cast my vote for hope and change. And the inauguration is still two months away, but already I can feel the shift. On Nov. 4, we the people elected Barack Obama the next president of the United States, and although he's not yet in office, the act of making history and setting our nation on a new course has already been uplifting.

Women played a key role in this victory, voting in greater numbers than men, and casting their votes for Obama in higher percentages than men in nearly every state. Young people, African Americans, Asian Americans, Hispanic voters and LGBT voters added to the margin of victory with disproportionate support for Obama.

Now that we have an Obama-Biden administration to look forward to (honestly, Jan. 20 can't come fast enough), the terrible funk we've been in for the last eight years has become even more apparent. George W. Bush and Dick Cheney were the opposite of hope. They were cynicism and fear and greed and destruction. Bush and Cheney wore the people down, sapped their spirit. They (and their "decider effect") are the reason people lack faith in government and the political process.

Overcoming the Decider Effect

The "decider effect" (named after Bush's infamous pronouncement that "I'm the decider, and I decide what is best.") is circular in nature and hard to escape. That's because once an unscrupulous administration has convinced a majority of people that they can't make a difference - that their voices and votes don't count -- it becomes harder and harder for the people to find the will to challenge these deciders. And thus it gets easier and easier for the deciders to trample on people's rights, wage unnecessary wars, and make their rich friends and associates even richer -- with less and less danger of being challenged.

When that happens, people who aren't politically inclined in the first place completely check out, and those of us who live and breathe this stuff, well . . . we start to suffocate in such thin air.

Inspiration in the Numbers, Credit for Victory

Being a women's rights activist, or a social justice advocate of any stripe, can be pretty frustrating, even without a Bush or Cheney in office. For several decades, most of our work has been an uphill battle with precious few victories spurring us along. Instead of passing pro-active legislation and policies, we've found ourselves constantly fighting against legislation (and judges) that would restrict our rights rather than expand them.

After years of being constantly on the defense, who could blame us for feeling discouraged, defeated, and just plain tired?

But the possibility of electing a president who would work for the people built voter excitement this year. The ground-breaking candidacies of Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama generated new interest and engagement, stoking the registration of more than 10 million new voters. That's one inspiring number -- 6.5 million more new voters than were registered in 2004. Importantly, 69 percent of first time voters chose Barack Obama in the general election.

There was a significant gender gap in this election, so women's votes were an important factor in Obama's victory. For example, Obama won 56 percent of women voters, while only 43 percent of women voted for McCain -- a spread of 13 points -- compared to a 51-48 percent women's vote for John Kerry over George Bush in 2004.

Women voters provided the Obama-Biden team with their margin of victory in four key states -- Colorado, New Hampshire, North Carolina and Indiana. It's not a surprise that all four states had strong women running down-ticket, including two winning female U.S. Senate candidates: Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.) and Kay Hagan (D-N.C.).

Some other numbers that inspire, courtesy of The New York Times: young people (age 18-29) voted 66 percent for Obama; African Americans voted 95 percent for Obama, Hispanics 67 percent and Asian Americans 62 percent; gay, lesbian and bisexual people voted 70 percent for Obama. Unmarried women were 12 percentage points more likely than unmarried men to vote for Obama, while mothers of young children were nine points more likely than fathers to vote for Obama.

Furthermore, according to an analysis of exit polls by American University political scientist Curtis Gans, African Americans made up 13 percent of all voters, a two point gain over 2004, and the increase may be even greater, once final numbers are available.

The Washington Post reports that Latina/os helped flip several battleground states to Obama. Some 28 percent of Hispanics polled by the Associated Press said they were voting for the first time, compared to 12 percent for all first-time voters. And the new Hispanic voters backed Obama by 76 percent.

Hope Transformed Into Action

But enough with the numbers. Where am I going with all this? Well, that's a lot of people who made a real, concrete difference. And many of them were first time voters. Together we elected the first African American president. Together we elected a president and a vice president who have promised to stand up for women's rights and the rights of so many others who were ignored, exploited or demonized during the Bush years.

With this win under their belts, a whole new generation of voters is even more likely to remain engaged in the political process, helping to steer our country in a positive direction. And those of us who badly needed a refueling are ready to keep fighting the good fight for a while longer.

A day like Nov. 4 sure can make you feel good again, but it's only the beginning. The struggle for human rights, equal opportunity and justice for all is an ongoing, never-ending process. But it just got the infusion it needed in the form of hope transformed into action converted into victory. There will be other challenges ahead, but we can always look back to this powerful moment and remember that we can do it. We can take charge of our lives, and we can decide what our future holds. Finally, we are the deciders.

more empty promises...

2008-11-21T13:43:00.000-08:00

Among a slew of new "rules" about when comments will and will not be allowed on their site, comes another empty promise (with no details whatsoever, as usual) about the still-upcoming release of the purported Michelle Obama tapes.

http://africanpress.wordpress.com/2008/11/21/the-original-michelle-obama-tape-release-to-be-scheduled/

Most of our readers registered with us when we were having the Tripod site. The purpose of the registration was to be send a password to the link so as to log in when the tape is being released.

API will enable those who have not registered to do so tomorrow Saturday.

The MBOs that will release the tape will do so simultaniously. API plans to activate a link 30 minutes before the airing of the tape once the release day and time is scheduled by the MBOs in agreement with API.

Meanwhile, refresh your memories with the tape below:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=exZOEcVF-SY

We'll see...I should be on their list so I'll post whatever super-secret info they email to their fans. I'm halfway expecting to need to send in UPC symbols for a decoder ring at this point...

Itching for a Roundhouse Kick to the Head

2008-11-20T09:16:00.000-08:00

The folks over a Whiskey Fire are just begging to have Chuck Norris show up at their mom's house to roundhouse kick their pajamas-wearing blogger asses right out of the basement. Nevertheless, I couldn't help from LOL'ing at the new Chuck Norris Homophobe Facts, so I guess I'm in danger of ol' Red Beard myself.

Chuck Norris hates gays so much, when he saw the Boogeyman in his closet, he called him a fag!

Chuck Norris thinks anyone you love who is gay is going to hell and he's cool with that!

Chuck Norris posters have been masturbated to by many gay men, and he hates all of them!

Chuck Norris is so tough, he will kick the ass of any gay person so gay as to try to assert any gay legal rights when their gay lover is in medical trouble!

Chuck Norris is good at kicking people, and he thinks that any child with gay parents is fucked because of how gay the kid's parents are!

Chuck Norris's religion is so butch, he thinks it gives him the right to impose his own cramped and inhumane morality on people he doesn't know!

Chuck Norris is so strong, he thinks the will of the majority should absolutely prevail over the rights of the minority, even when the minority loses by like a 4 percent margin!

Chuck Norris reads his own press, and apparently also the nonsense on the internet about how cool he is, and this has led him to believe that he is something else besides a halfway intelligent bigoted fucknobble!

Never Underestimate...

2008-11-19T20:19:00.001-08:00

...the power of stupidity. I do find it a little unsettling that people still fall for this, although after a few seasons, To Catch a Predator still managed to find enough adult men to want to have sex with underage boys and girls...including some who had seen the show before. So it comes as little surprise that this woman in Oregon lost $400,000 to a classic Nigerian scam.

You read it right. FOUR HUNDRED THOUSAND DOLLARS. Here's a quote:

Spears told KATU-TV about the scammers' ability to identify her relative by name was persuasive.

"That's what got me to believe it," She said. "So, why wouldn't you send over $100?"

$100 is one thing, but "she mortgaged the house and took a lien out on the family car, and ran through her husband's retirement account." Because they said her millions were "guaranteed."

Folks, if you learn one thing from this site, it is that people who expect to earn your trust through veiled internet communications and "official" foreign documents are probably full of shit.

Uh-oh, banned again!

2008-11-19T11:53:00.000-08:00

What a surprise. Looks like our good friend Chief Editor Korir has been banned again from yet another free site....but the original Wordpress site is back for the moment...of course, no new information. I signed up for their email list also, so we'll see what becomes of that.

Rockin the Vote 11/03/08 D-Boys

2008-11-18T20:49:00.000-08:00

Beastie Boys and Tenacious D put on aRock the Vote show in Denver on 11/03/08 at the Fillmore Auditorium to a sold out crowd. One kind soul recorded this monumentous event, and I'm happy to ride his coattails to bring it to you...

http://www.filesavr.com/tenaciousd2008-11-03

http://www.filesavr.com/beastieboys2008-11-03

nothin special, just zipped up mp3's but it came though pretty clear.

The Wingnut-o-sphere, land of insanity!

2008-11-18T12:38:00.000-08:00

Hey, in a paradigm where Man and dinosaurs lived together and the world is only 6000 years old, anything is possible...

http://gatewaypundit.blogspot.com/2008/11/newsweek-wonders-is-obama-antichrist.html

They always have a really great line buried in their articles over at Gateway Pundit, this one is my current fave:

It appears Barack Obama was not properly vetted after all.

The link there goes to a story in a UK publication in which a reporter covering the political implications of ethanol discovers a backwards ass hick in ButtFuck, Missouri who repeated a claim he heard through the Rapture grapevine about Obama being the Anti-Christ. Being from Missouri and having traveled through quite a bit of the state, this comes as no surprise to me, but for the British news source I guess this manager of an ethanol plant and his crazytalk holds a great amount of creedence.......anyway, the point being, this is sufficient background to make a claim that our President-elect wasn't properly vetted. Can anyone explain to me how that connection is made? Should the DNC have consulted every UFO abductee to get their incoherent ramblings before making a selection??

API is going to be the next nigerian bank scam!

2008-11-18T11:48:00.000-08:00

I don't know if you heard it here first but I'm definitely calling it now. The latest posting says they will only release the information to readers who have been "good to API" and they are requiring your full name, email, address, city, state, zip, and phone number. This is how those scams start out, they get all of your info and then ask for just a little more to verify it is really you...or they have another way to get you to disclose personal info like bank accounts or social security numbers through some form of social engineering. I guarantee that any fool that gives these foreign scheisters their info will have that info harvested into some sort of malicious scheme...whether it be spam, fraud, or otherwise.

Here's the link to the latest post...

I think it's important to look at why he's doing this...requiring personal information in order to establish a list of believers who will be the only receipients of his "evidence" when it is released. It makes absolutely no sense, because once the information is released (it won't be because it doesn't exist, but that's beyond the point, i'm playing devil's advocate here), it will immediately be all over the internet and news. If this were real it's big news, it's not going to stay with the group of "insiders" that subscribe to API's news update...even if only fervent supporters sign up for this "service" I guarantee it will get out to the rest of us within minutes...otherwise what's the point of releasing it at all? So a half dozen lunatics with tin foil hats can pat themselves on the back? That's not why API has made such a big deal out of this, Chief Editor Korir wants worldwide attention. He also states that the subscribers will be the first to know about his new website when it launches. Again, it makes no sense to keep this stuff to supporters, one because it's futile, the info will get out, and two because if any of this were real it's pointless if nobody knows about it.

The goal here is to get the most gullible, stupid and paranoid morons to put their blind faith into this man Korir, who they have never and will never meet, in order to eventually fleece them out of their savings. I predict API will need money for some service they claim they will provide, like starting a website or transporting sensitive documents or something else...and these followers will fall prey to the scam because they need something to believe in to keep their minds off the reality that is their sad and pitiful white trash lives.

Here it comes...

2008-11-18T07:42:00.000-08:00

It's all making sense now...first the unbelievable claims, the delays and excuses, gaining unwavering trust from the wingnuttiest folks out there and creating a "civil war" of believers and non-believers, where the believers will take anything you say as infallible truth, then the "oppression" and "infiltration" to "test" the mettle of the defiant and headstrong Korir and at the same time, generating sympathy from your believers...throw in a vague mention of funding (which will fall through), website problems, switch to a new site, keep the faithful close at hand, creating ever stronger minions of allies who will go to any lengths to keep things rolling ahead...start restricting free speech and limiting dissent....your followers offer you any amount of support that is needed...

step 2...information is only given on a subscription basis, we need your email address and phone number or we don't tell you about the tapes...

step 3...?? profit? sounds like the perfect set up for a nigerian bank scam, doesn't it?!

http://africanpress.tripod.com/id27.html

API is not sitting down saddened of any event that led to WordPress taking API down. The owners of WordPress have the right to do what is best for their company.

We sincerely thank them for having let us use their site for over 2 years without question.

We do not blame them for what has happened because we have to respect that they have rules that we may have violated time and again.

We in API will go on with the march until we accomplish our aims on the Obama tape, and the birth certificate issue.

The challenge we have gone through the last weeks has been useful for us in many ways and that usefulness will lead us straight to victory.

Those who wish to know the date and time the tapes will be aired may sign their emails on the site mail register provided on the front page near the guestbook. We will require the correct email and telephone number so as to verify by phone that we are releasing information to the right people.

API will have WWW address ready in a few days from now. A very professional designed site that API will enjoy using and from the launching day which is in a few days, we will be independent and will have no worries of anybody trying to bully us.

Readers with businesses will be able to advertise on our site and onward we will march with you and get the truth about the issues we have so much devoted ourselves to.

We will not be releasing any information to anybody between now and the date of the tape release unless we are very sure the person is not ill motivated. It is therefore no need to ask for any information from us before that day has come and gone.

However, those who give us both email and phone numbers will be exceptionally treated.

For the Chief Editor.

Think of the exceptional treatment you'll get by giving them your bank account and social security numbers! Signed autographs from Chief Editor Korir himself! A birthday card with your name on it every year, ON YOUR BIRTHDAY! And $5,000,000 USD from a Kenyan Prince who tragically died in a car crash and has no next of kin!

Yeah, and I can't wait to see their "professional" website...they've gone from Wordpress to Tripod, what's next, Geocities? AOL? MySpace?!?! I'm giddy with excitement for API 2.0!

Wonders never cease... (more API crap)

2008-11-17T13:13:00.000-08:00

Well looky here...I knew it wouldn't be long before they found another home. I'm really quite happy they are so bold as to continue trying to keep this charade up, it provides me with endless amusement.

Here's their new home and the latest rant about how those who try to stop API will fail: http://africanpress.tripod.com/id11.html

Barely any comments from the Editor himself, just posts some emails from people who make vague associations to a scapegoat they blame the original site closing on, without any actual proof it was that blogger who had any involvement (as usual)...

And here are some more excuses why they haven't been able to follow through on promises made to this point...

The Michelle Obama tapes has caused many people to have sleepless nights. Most of them used there time to get adverts in API site which was then hosted by Wordpress.com. The enemies managed to fool wordpress and got their way by wordpress' reaction closing us down. Now that we have passed that stage, we want to assure the readers that the tapes will see the light. It has been a rough road but one that we will not fail to work to the end.

According to the earlier contract signed by counsel, the airing of Michelle Obama tape was supposed to be between the 9th and 13th of November.

All readers know what happened those days. Due to the developing events caused by those who have managed to infiltrate API and the high tech interference by parties who are working hard to stop the airing of the tape, I had an urgent telephone conference meeting with counsel on the 13th of November who has approved the following text for publishing so that the readers were made aware of the situation in order to understand and appreciate what we were going through.

—————– Here below is the text approved by Counsel .—————

“I spoke with our counsel, who drafted and signed the MBO contract on our behalf, and he advised me that, in his opinion, both parties to the contract are respecting both the intent and the letter of the contract. He reminded me that the terms and conditions of the contract are and will remain confidential and that the name of the MBO will be known only when it announces the airing or airs the cassettes. API will not publish any information on the airing times and details until authorized to do so by the other party to the contract. MBO will be the first to announce the airing of the tapes. The only thing API can say, have said and will say is that it has entered a contract with a MBO.

Counsel is of the opinion that the decision as to the actual date and time of the airing should be left to the MBO, since API’s legal rights are fully protected. This contract was entered in good faith by both parties. Basically, the MBO is the one who will decide, in good faith, the actual broadcasting dates and postpone them, if required, in keeping with the spirit and letter of the contract.”

(approved by counsel, name withheld at counsel’s request)

————————

Due to the circumstances of the day it became necessary to have an additional paragraph to the main contract, whereby API’s Counsel opend for MBO to be able to come with a surprise announcement as concerns the actual date and time of airing of the tape in order to avoid the infiltrators from succeeding in their pressure on the MBO aimed at cancellation of the tape broadcast. The additional paragraph to the contract by API counsel states:

“Basically, the MBO is the one who will decide, in good faith, the actual broadcasting dates and postpone them, if required, in keeping with the spirit and letter of the contract.” (approved by counsel, name withheld at counsel’s request.”

The above change is meant to enable the MBO to decide the date within the framework of the main contract, specifically in accordance with already agreed time schedules. If MBO decides to postpone the airing dates other than follow any specified dates, API must be consulted by Counsel immediately and given the opportunity to agree or reject any proposed postponement by MBO.

We can confirm that the infiltrators have succeeded in getting inside information on the tape and the Imam document, but have not yet succeeded in stopping the airing of the tape as yet.

We hope that the readers will get the point - if supportive of API’s intentions to have the tape out, will understand why this kind of action had to be taken immediately in order to avoid a repeat of what happened between Fox News Network and API’s agreement on the airing of the tape before the Presidential elections on the 4th of November.

Now that the release seems to be around the corner, Counsel will come with an update if required.

———————–

Chief Editor Korir/ African Press International

The Right has no hope.

2008-11-17T10:17:00.000-08:00

I actually enjoy reading America's Right blog, as Jeff Schreiber seems to be one intellectually elegant and focused conservative amongst an impossibly vast array of impulsive, conspiracy driven nutjobs. However, I think he is as downtrodden as the rest of the hardcore conservatives right now and his piece this morning brightens up my day a little just because his seems so dark. I don't make myself out to be his nemesis by any means as I'm sure he's never heard of me, but nonetheless I do take a little pleasure in seeing conservatives so defeated. Granted, I still commend Jeff and think that he could play an important role in the rebranding of the conservative movement as his blog has remained rather steady through this whole process...anyway...

Today's article "Nothing Good Can Come from Obama's Meeting with McCain" explains why Obama's choice to meet with his rival McCain is stupid and pointless because of how bad his rival actually sucked in the first place and meeting with him won't accomplish anything because McCain is too much of a pussy to maintain his opposing points of view. It's a pretty good argument, I'll give that to him. Check it out for yourself.

Is the API scam over and done?

2008-11-17T09:55:00.000-08:00

Well, the last week has been pretty volatile for Chief Editor Sammy Korir's blog, African Press International. After a figurative firestorm of supposed "attacks" on his account, as well as a literal fire in the building his email is hosted at and several other technical problems...it looks like API is down for good at this time. Apparently they violated Wordpress' TOS and got taken down, we'll see if it's permanent or not and if they pop up elsewhere, I'll let you know...in the meantime it seems that another wordpress site, Mountain Sage, has exposed many past frauds and inconsistencies on the API site and may have been the "source" of truth-seekers demanding the API either put up or shut up.

Clearly though, if API had something to share, there are many ways to do so other than Wordpress, and that should not stop them if they really have evidence of anything they have claimed. There are countless other blog sites, media publishing sites (YouTube, etc), file sharing sites, and plenty of media outlets who would help them out, at their disposal. All this nonsense about needing vaious legal counsel and contracts for release and endless paperwork is silly. And if he really does have this evidence, and if there is a legitimate reason for him to fear being stopped, and furthermore if there really are people who could stop him or even find him in the first place and get their hands on this evidence if it really exists...well the best thing for him to do is get it out there. what does holding onto it do? unless he's scamming for money, which makes complete and total sense.

Stay tuned for more developments, but as of right now it looks like this whole crapfest might be over and done with...I highly recommend checking out Mountain Sage's blog if you're interested in reading more into this debacle.

http://themountainsage.wordpress.com/

contributing to the delinquency of minors...or just trying to save the planet?

2008-11-12T21:58:00.000-08:00

Thanks to Daily Mail and Fark...

'Try something new today...' blundering Sainsbury's gives booklet on sex positions to eight-year-olds

By Andrew Levy
Last updated at 2:02 AM on 13th November 2008

They probably expected a goody bag of some sorts as a going home gift after the primary school trip to Sainsbury's.

But what the 42 children - not to mention their parents and teachers - did not expect was to be given a book with explicit illustrations of sexual positions.

And the advice under the dozen drawings, which feature in a section about saving water by 'bathing with a friend', reads: 'Save water. Have fun. Just get out before everything becomes wrinkled.'

Other inappropriate suggestions in the £5 book from Sainsbury's - whose advertising slogan is Try Something New Today - include encouraging readers to shave in intimate places, streaking, talking to strangers and handing out your phone number to five people on the street.

Inappropriate: Two of 12 ways that children were shown how to 'have fun in the bath' in the Sainsbury's leaflet

The book, entitled How To Change The World For A Fiver, was mistakenly given to the Year 4 pupils, aged between eight and nine, from Burton End primary, Suffolk, during a visit to the supermarket in Haverhill.

The blunder came to light only when a father heard his daughter giggling with friends as they flicked through the pages.

Engineer Andrew Dodd, 37, whose daughter Laura is eight, said: 'I was furious. It was extremely inappropriate and irresponsible to give to children.

'On the "Having Fun in the Bath" pages there were little drawings of about 12 sexual positions.

Explicit: Readers were encouraged to save water by ‘bathing with a friend’

'But the worst bit was where it encouraged you to go and talk to strangers. It's the opposite message to what you should be giving to kids. I don't think the school realised what was in the book.

'The teachers were as horrified as we were when they saw it.

'Laura thought it was funny but thankfully she didn't really understand it.'

A Sainsbury's spokesman said: 'This was a well-intentioned mistake. It is a very nice book about how to make the world a better place but it is not targeted at children.

'The books were given to store staff by head office because they mentioned the company's positive environmental activities.

Blunder: Sainsbury's said they made a mistake giving children the book, which also encouraged readers to shave intimate places, streak and chat up strangers

'A few spare copies were left over in the store which were given as presents to the visiting children.

'The cover looks like a kid's book. This was a mix-up and we would like to apologise for any distress caused. It certainly won't happen again.'

But Nick Seaton, of the Campaign for Real Education, criticised Sainsbury's for not making basic checks before handing out the books.

'This would be offensive to some adults, let alone children,' he said. 'This wasn't a mistake. It was an unacceptable failure on Sainsbury's part.

'Young minds are the most malleable and this incident has robbed a large number of children of their innocence. They should be ashamed.'

The book was produced by a company called We Are What We Do, which says its mission is to inspire people to change the world one small action at a time.

It also produces children's version of How To Change The World For £5 which is called Teach Your Granny to Text and has been sent to primary schools across the country.

Sainsbury's is sending Mr Dodd's daughter a £30 voucher to spend in the store.

Adults only: Sainsbury's said of Change the World for a Fiver: 'It is a very nice book about how to make the world a better place, but it is not targeted at children'

------------

A few key comments:

Are my children safe in this country? Can I ever hope to protect them either from irresponsible adults, or unsuitable literature and education? What about the people who are not shielded and protected from these crass edu-leaflets we keep seeing or hearing about? They pose a real threat to decent people by lowering societiy's morals and expectations. No wonder teenage pregnancies and STDs are on the rise when it's accepted that this behaviour is almost the norm.
Whatever happened to common decency??

- ******, UK, 12/11/2008 18:03

very inapprropriate! why not severly punish those responsible to set a precedent and example to deter others from fragrantly violating the inocence of vunerable and impressionable young children. why can't we protect our children from deviants, molestors and violence?

- ***********, warrenton,virginia usa, 12/11/2008 18:25

and then...

What are the other six positions? Purely for research purposes, you understand...

- *********, UK, 12/11/2008 11:02

ahh...that normalizes things a bit now doesn't it? back to saving the world, thanks :)

...and some more thoughts on API

2008-11-12T10:23:00.000-08:00

So you may have noticed I've been a bit quiet here lately. I've been trying to put some of the past few months of tension behind me and get on in my busy life, and ultimately many of the things I'd like to say are already being said by bloggers much more diligent and widely read than myself. That isn't to say I'm just going to leave it alone, but I did want to avoid relying too heavily on repeating commentary and just linking to sources without taking the time to write up my own thoughtful response and/or opinionated pointless rant.

I'm still keeping an eye out for the most egregious displays of desperation and unscrupulous attacks on decency, of course. There have been a few stories lately which have been covered by others in the blogosphere, and be sure that anything truly important I will post here.

I did want to take a moment to recognize API again though, for their truly unique work. Though I have been banned from commenting there (numerous times I might add, with the same name, since they have no understanding of how to run a blog and moderate comments), I continue to stay abreast of their purported developments. The story continues to be drawn out, the release of any evidence to back up their claims continues to be delayed, and new distractions from the original directive pop up daily to provide further excuse why nothing has been produced. Of course, each of these developments elicits the exact same response from the same groups of people...the true believers, the faithful of Chief Editor Korir (who is honest, honorable, and to whom these people are forever grateful) can do no wrong and there is a vast conspiracy of left-wingers, Obama supporters and probably some Illuminati in there too who are out to get him and are infiltrating this incredibly well-researched and crucially important effort to discredit Obama. Then there are those with intelligence levels above Trig Palin who continue to withhold their judgement until there is a shred of proof that could back up even one of Korir's claims.

Remember folks, in America, you are innocent until proven guilty...

Sometimes you get shown the light in the strangest of places...

2008-11-12T10:20:00.000-08:00

Reading through my blogs this morning I came upon a comment made in reference to Jack Cafferty's question "Who cares about Sarah Palin" and just had to repost it because it is blindingly simple and dead-on accurate. My apologies for not being able to provide due credit to the original commenter:

There are two reasons: 1) She’s attractive. For better or for worse, people listen when pretty girls talk, no matter what nonsense may come out of their mouths. 2) Incompetence, by itself, is not entertaining. However, when the incompetent are supremely self-confident, full of certitude, and absent of insight, it’s absolutely compelling.

Lookout! They're queering right for us!

2008-11-11T09:44:00.000-08:00

Oh noes!!1! Militant Homosexuals! lol

A large gang of militant perverts has attacked a church congregation in Lansing, Michigan...

over 30 of them showed up in force [Sunday]. Wearing secret-service style ear pieces and microphones they received the "go" from their ringleader and off they went.

Prayer had just finished when men and women stood up in pockets across the congregation, on the main floor and in the balcony. "Jesus was gay," they shouted among other profanities and blasphemies as they rushed the stage. Some forced their way through rows of women and kids to try to hang a profane banner from the balcony while others began tossing fliers into the air. Two women made their way to the pulpit and began to kiss.

Their other props? I'll let them tell you in their own words… from another of their liberal blogs:

"(A) video camera, a megaphone, noise makers, condoms, glitter by the bucket load, confetti, pink fabric…yeh."

The horror...

Get Your War On: New World Order

2008-11-07T18:38:00.001-08:00

Get Your War On: New World Order

Get the latest news satire and funny videos at 236.com.

Posted using ShareThis

It explains a lot.

2008-11-06T21:04:00.000-08:00

So I'm thoroughly addicted at this point to really wing-nutty blogs and conspiracy theories. I can't get my fill. I just read up on the Illuminati and boy, have I been missing out! This stuff is great. Here's how the believers respond to a listing of Obama's credentials to be President (in response to conspiracy theory about Biden's remarks about a "generated crisis")

Posted By: Andre
Date: 2008-10-31 18:14:01

Barack Obama is a fucking Illuminati build to destroy the governmnet and implement the New World Order. Barack Obama is a puppet of the devil.
Dont vote at all. Live out your life without the needs of the slavery out of the Illuminati.

I think I may have found the jackpot.

Signs of Satan, from Amy Grant to Pat Robertson

2008-11-06T20:37:00.000-08:00

Those are probably the last two people I'd think the Jesus freaks would throw under Satan's bus, but I'd be wrong again.

http://www.jesus-is-savior.com/False%20Religions/Wicca%20&%20Witchcraft/signs_of_satan.htm

Amy Grant

Above: Believe it or not! Here's Amy Grant, on the Michael W. Smith, In Concert (Reunion Records, 1985) video tape flashing the "Satanic salute." Amy deliberately flashes the "Satanic salute" at least two separate times on the video, displaying it for several seconds. Amy is promoting Satan. There is a definite spirit invoked in rock music, secular or Christian - and it's NOT the Holy Spirit! And many times, people involved in rock music get "caught up in this unholy spirit"!

Future Secessionists, This Way

2008-11-05T19:20:00.000-08:00

I can't see this being good for the country. Digging through some of the right wing sludge I came across this call to action:

(this is the gist of it)

We have time but not much time to still force Obama to present the original vault copy and have a team of forensic scientists http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Forensics make scientific tests that are accepted by courts, to insure that the BC was produced on or around 1961 when Obama was born. This would prove to all that Obama was or wasn't a native born American. IMO, all debate, but not all legal action (lawyers want the big bucks involved), should stop by all fair-minded people whether pro or con Obama

So from there it's a lot of paranoid ramblings about sending every elector a letter and copying 3 other people, sounded kindof like a chain letter really.

"Forward this to 9 of your friends before December 15 2008 or you will be enslaved by a Black Man! Send it to 11 people in 30 minutes and have 7 years of Aweseom (sic) Sex!!1!"

Anyway, like I said, this can't be good for the country. If this gains traction, let's say there's merit to it, gotta humor them, right?...so it has wheels, people get behind it because there's a valid concern President Elect Barack Obama might not be a natural born US citizen....This should be big news...so enough people get behind it and they force Obama to produce the Birth Certificate they say he is hiding.

1. It is real, Obama was born in HI, and the skeptics are enlightened, and admit they were wrong all along.

2. The skeptics cannot confirm the birth certificate. This could be because they maintain (as with the other one) that it is a forgery, or they find another excuse why this isn't an acceptable form of validation, or what if it is simply not produced?

For this to have become such an issue that one of these plays out before Obama takes office, it seems like the nation would be buzzing and very polarized...then what?

1. All the skeptics give it up and are sent back to society feeling ashamed for believing such tabloid nonsense...

2. Those that maintain skepticism and doubt the Presidents legitimacy will revolt. They are (Real) Americans and they won't take it without a fight, right? I've seen talk of secession on wing nut blog comments, amidst the capslock frenzied rants.

I'm saying I think either this is big news or it isn't. There's no scenario where he produces a document that isn't highly publicized, as well as the reaction from skeptics...and if he doesn't, then either the skeptics MUST do something or risk being forgotten as cowards...or it's just a non-issue.

Likely, it will keep to the lunatic fringe. Which I'm no doubt a part of now since I've been trolling their sites for weeks....anyway, this is the fabrication of paranoid conspiracy theorists and just like all the rest it will probably pop up every now and then but "we may never know the truth".

Although I bet if you sign up for Joe the Plumber's special Secret Membership Club for only $14.95/yr you can all go learn how to take back the country:

With your help, we can stop the government and banks from taking peoples' homes away. We can stop our elected officials from selling our children into debt with our enemies. We can help each other far better and faster than the government has ever been able to.

Please join me in taking back our country from the elites in Washington by selecting a registration option to the right

So bitter...

2008-11-05T14:58:00.000-08:00

this just saddens me...i'm not suprised but still...one of my friends is a hardcore right-winger, and we trade political emails from time to time. i knew this was probably a rough day so i sent him this email to try and lighten the mood:

We should all be proud today, that in one very heated election, Bacon won out over Fries.
http://data.denverpost.com/election/results/state-senate/2008/district-14/

Unfortunately, he was so bitter he sent this back:

It's a sad day for this country. I hate it, but there is abosolutly nothing I can do about it.

With a democratice strong hold on Senate, Congress and the Presidency we are in big trouble. We will be a socialist country before you know it!!!!!!

I just hope we get our act together before 2012. 8 years of Obama stuff will send us farther in the celler than we can afford!

I guess I better get ready to support the lazy more than I already do.

This was my reply:

well, i just tried to make a little joke to lighten the air around what i'm sure is a disappointing day for you, but i see you'd rather be a sore loser.

i'm disappointed in you. instead of being proud to be an american, proud to live in a country where racism can be defeated and a black man can be elected president, proud to be part of a democratic process that by all accounts went extraordinarily well, and proud to be a country that the entire world is watching and offers it's support for and admires for our ability to make broad political changes without mass rioting and violence, you have instead decided to be sad for our country, and continue to hold onto pathetic, empty name-calling and baseless attacks. clearly you've missed the point, and you've ignored the hypocrisy from your own party.

i don't think you understand what socialism is, and you clearly have chosen to ignore the social policies that john mccain and sarah palin have themselves supported which also "redistribute" money. it's part of the economy, and if you're so lame you can't possibly bear to have any of your money go to help anyone else, you live in the wrong country. and to say that social programs only benefit the lazy? well, i hope you never get laid off, never get too sick to work, never struggle with paying for healthcare and housing, and can always afford to take care of your children. you better have real good luck if you don't want to fund social programs, [name removed], and you better never need help yourself.

maybe it's easy for me to realize that because my guy won, but think about how we got here. one guy ran a race where he encouraged booing and name calling the entire time, and even when he conceded his supporters could not muster up enough grace to put aside their negative attitudes to congratulate their new president. the other guy ran a race based on hope, courage, and the ability to make a difference, and had 100's of thousands of people showing up to rallies and spread positive messages instead of attacks and fear.

time for a wake up call, we're not talking about handouts and obscure political ideals....this is about doing what's good and right for all the american people, and moving the country to a place where we can all prosper. you might not agree with every plan obama has, but you better agree that he's the president and if you want something done it's going to have to get done through him. he's made a promise to be your president too, will you take him up on that?

Sarah Palin, freeloader. Also.

2008-11-05T14:02:00.000-08:00

note: I'm still not 100% convinced these stories about Palin's wardrobe and Joe's abilities to buy a business are totally accurate or even relevant, but it does seem pretty clear to me that enough is true to call them on their hypocrisy, so I'm reposting this with that caveat.

From DailyKos:

Dansac has already introduced you to today's version of the story, but I feel compelled to revisit an earlier call on this in order to restate a now obvious theme: Sarah Palin is The Chiseler Supreme.

What a really, truly unpleasant experience has been our exposure to the two insta-celebrities created by the McCain campaign. These two grubbers, Joe the Plumber and Sarah Palin, became the perfect symbol for everything that was wrong with and ingenuine about modern Republicanism.

Joe griped endlessly about taxes even as it turned out he was ducking them, and groused that Obama's "socialism" would mean there was no incentive to work hard and succeed in earning more than $250,000 a year, even as he shopped around for an agent and a Nashville recording contract. (And excuse me -- what?! A recording contract? Based on what, Mr. Hard Work?) Meanwhile, there was Sarah griping about pork and wasteful spending even as she tried to rip off the Feds for the Bridge to Nowhere, rip off the state for her per diem, and rip off the campaign for her clothes (and her husband's, and her family's).

Yes, in the few short weeks we knew her, Sarah Palin turned out to have more hands in more pockets than we could keep track of. She and Joe were the perfect pair. Instantly famous but for no good reason, pushy, greedy, and all the while cheating behind the scenes, and cheating on the very issues about which each of them complained that regular Americans were getting a raw deal from the elite.

Good riddance. I get enough of that crap from Reality TV as it is.

It's like a whole election nearly went down the wrong pipe. Thank God the country coughed them back up.

Epic Fail!

2008-11-05T11:46:00.000-08:00

I really couldn't have said it better.

Epic Fail

Right-wing blogs- To say they ate their seed corn is to wildly underestimate the damage they have done to their online presence, because if you just ate your seed corn, there would at least be a short-term benefit. More accurately, they chewed up their seed corn, spit it out, stomped on it, defecated on it, then grabbed it and smeared it on their chests to form the words “WHITEY TAPE.” These idiots spent the last six months chasing the whitey tape, questioning his patriotism, calling Obama a Muslim, panty-sniffing for an Obama affair, calling Obama a terrorist and socialist and you name it, and the country shrugged. Any future Republican campaign will need to rely on the “intellectual” arguments of thoroughly discredited propaganda organs like the Weekly Standard and the NRO, and we now have six months worth of their stupidity on file to throw in their faces and discredit them in the future. I am dying for the next time Andy McCarthy or one of these losers is brought on a cable show to advance a Republican position. Just dying. Good luck with the “next right,” folks.

Ayers speaks...

2008-11-05T10:26:00.000-08:00

I'm really hoping this sort of clearing the air around these right wing claims will continue, I want everything out in the open and all the questions to be addressed so we really can move forward. I'm sure there will still be fringe groups supporting conspiracy theory, but that has always been the case and I don't expect it to change or go away, but I do think on the whole we can get past this stuff.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/27542912/

Ayers, now an education professor at the University of Illinois-Chicago, said he thought the accusation by Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin that Obama had been "palling around with terrorists" was absurd.
"Pal around together? What does that mean? Share a milkshake with two straws?" Ayers said. "I think my relationship with Obama was probably like thousands of others in Chicago. And, like millions and millions of others, I wish I knew him better."

Election is over. Meet your new robotic overlords.

2008-11-05T09:08:00.000-08:00

Even robots love Obama
by Thomas Ricker, posted Nov 5th 2008 at 4:08AM

You know you've tapped into a cross section of America when even the robots come out in your support. The $250 ObamaBot stands 6-feet tall and regurgitates stump speeches by the president-elect while presumably cleansing the Earth of any naysayers. ObamaBot's University of Florida creators see the world as so imperfect, that they'd prefer to pal around with robots who would target their own planet. Run little girl, run... change is coming.

[Via The Wired Campus, thanks Egloskerry]

http://www.engadget.com/2008/11/05/even-robots-love-obama/

What a great feeling

2008-11-05T08:22:00.001-08:00

Waking up today, I felt like a large weight had been lifted...however at the same time there's a realization that there's still a lot of work to do and we've got a lot of broken pieces to pick up and fix...but there's hope.

There's also the satisfying and cleansing feeling you get right after you take a huge dump. I mean a really big smelly gratifying crap. It's like expunging a mass of evil and waste from your bowels. And this one had been building up for so long. I feel like America just squared up on its haunches, sucked in a few big breaths, steadied themselves, and let loose the bowels of democracy in a torrent of ideological and political fecal matter, speckled with nuggets of intolerance and ignorance like so many kernels of corn and peanuts in a turd. Now we must wipe the anus of America, be gentle as she has probably hemmoraged a bit from the strain, collectively pull up our pants, wash our hands, dry them on our shirts and get moving forward on the task ahead of us.

McCain concedes

2008-11-04T18:28:00.000-08:00

That's that! President Barack Obama.

I just watched McCain's concession speech and I have to say it was the most genuine and inspiring moment of his entire campaign as well as a great speech all around.

At the same time the crowd booing at Obama was just classless. Sore losers. McCain handled it well, he was stern about silencing them, and I felt bad for him that his entire campaign was ran this way. I can't imagine being at the center of thousands of people booing for weeks on end...that's got to be frustrating.

But tonight we saw the real McCain. I've always held respect for him and his service to the country, and in true form he conceded with dignity and urged his supporters to work with his new president. I hope they heed his advice. All can be forgiven if we can move past the last several weeks of ugliness and work together, yet all will be lost if we cannot get past the doubt and fear in exchange for hope and trust.

This is an important moment in history. Glad to be a part of it.

If you can't say anything nice...

2008-11-04T15:17:00.000-08:00

I just came across this article and really liked it, so here it is:

KANSAS CITY, Missouri (CNN)– At first, many people thought it was a trick question.

“You want me to say something good about who?” said Christine Graham, 43, of Arapahoe County, Colorado.

But it wasn't a trick. It was just a small attempt, in the final days of a presidential campaign that has at times been vicious and brutal-spirited, to, as they say, bring the country together.

“But I’m for John McCain," Christine Graham said.

That’s fine. McCain has your vote.

But, knowing that you’re not going to change your mind, Mrs. Graham, say something good about Barack Obama– something that you truly believe.

She hesitated.

“Well. . . .” she said.

She paused for a few more seconds, and then said:

“He’s a dreamer. I think he probably wants to make life easier for people.”

There. Easy as that.

Joel Michel is an Obama supporter.

And you, Joel Michel, 53, of Kansas City.

You say you’re going to vote for Obama?

“Yes.”

Good enough.

Now say something good about John McCain.

“Seriously?”

Yes– something genuine that you like about him.

“He seems like a nice guy,” Michel said. “And his war record, of course. The heroic aspect of him.”

Anything else?

“He seems like his own man, not so much a part of the Beltway,” Michel said. “And I think he really wants to get rid of those nefarious lobbyists.”

We were noticing something as we did this: The people, whether they supported McCain or Obama, seemed to be in a little better mood– in an observably more pleasant frame of mind– after they were urged to say something nice about the other guy. During a campaign year that has consisted of so many raised voices and ugly charges, they seemed to like this.

Jim Keeney is a McCain supporter.

Jim Keeney, 57, of Chillicothe, Missouri, strong supporter of John McCain: Say something good about Barack Obama.

“He‘s one of the best speakers I‘ve ever heard,” Keeney said. “He’s got youth going for him. And I think Joe Biden is a good man– I kind of wish Biden was running with McCain. So I can say something good about his vice presidential pick.”

How’d that feel, saying that?

“Good– but you know I’m still voting for McCain, right?”

Of course.

Now, Dave Fiala, 47, of Howells, Nebraska– you say that you’re an Obama voter?

“I am.”

Tell us something you really like about John McCain.

“What that man has been through– his war record in the military– how could anyone not respect that?” Fiala said. “And I think he’s genuine about his feelings. He genuinely believes that what he wants to do for the country is the right thing. But mostly I come back to how he handled terrible adversity– what he has been through, and where he has gotten to. I certainly have never been through anything like that. I’m not going to vote for him, but he’s a man I would enjoy meeting and talking to."

Mikki Huxtable, 46, McCain voter from Liberty, Missouri– say something good about Obama.

“He‘s a really good family man,” she said. “He’s a momma’s boy, and I say that in a good way– he cares about the moms in this country, because he was raised by his mother and his grandmother. He stopped his campaign to go visit his grandmother because she’s sick. I have a son who I wish was as much as a momma’s boy as Obama is. I wish he would depend on me more."

Trisha Brewer is a Canadian citizen…but still has something nice to say.

And you, Trisha Brewer, 33– you say you like Obama.

“Yes, but I’m not from the United States– I live in Victoria, British Columbia."

That’s all right. Since you like Obama, and would vote for him if you could, try to think of something nice to say about McCain.

“He’s very American," she said. “It's very obvious to me that McCain really does have America’s best interests at heart."

Mike Cohany, 45, of Carlisle, Pennsylvania, John McCain voter– sorry to interrupt your evening, but can you say anything good about Barack Obama?

“He's energetic, he's charismatic, he‘s fresh, and it's clear that he believes things can improve,” Cohany said. “He's very poised in how he carries himself, and there’s no question he’s very intelligent. I’m into sports, and I read about how he likes to hang out with the guys to play basketball. He’s not going to get my vote, but, now that you ask, I think he’s a guy I would enjoy having a conversation with."

Junior Word, 33, of Knoxville, Tennessee– you say that Obama definitely has your vote?

“Yes. No question about it.”

Please say something good about John McCain.

Pause.

“He’s a believer. When he sets out to do something, he does it because he really is convinced it’s the right thing. I don’t agree with his policies, but I know that he is a true American.”

This just might catch on. In these last days of the campaign, this might start something– in city after city, in state after state, people might make themselves feel better by looking for the better side of the man they oppose.

Right.

But admit it– it beats what we’ve been hearing all year, doesn’t it?

Have you voted yet?

2008-11-04T10:17:00.001-08:00

Just askin....

I cast my ballot 2 weeks ago, felt great to get it done early. But I'm glad the turnout is strong today! If you haven't voted yet, seriously, WTF? GO VOTE!

Lebanese newspapers might not be the best source of information

2008-11-04T10:01:00.000-08:00

Another story of Obama's supposed secret conversations with radicals is appearing all over the right wing blogs, and as usual it's something that's reported by a foreign news agency with no evidence to back it up whatsoever.

When will the Right learn that in order to maintain credibility, it should focus on stories printed in the US with actual evidence rather than relying on every wacky claim made by foreign sources?

And as usual, it is quickly debunked. Funny, the post which breaks this "story" includes a link to the story debunking it, but of course makes no mention of that.

http://littlegreenfootballs.com/article/31803_Obama_Made_Secret_Promises_to_Palestinians#rss

and the story of the denial of these claims:

http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3617465,00.html

This is just too perfect

2008-11-04T08:47:00.001-08:00

The 5 Stupidest Things that Happened this Election

2008-11-03T23:52:00.000-08:00

http://www.236.com/news/2008/11/03/from_ashley_to_levi_the_five_s_1_10003.php

From Ashley Todd to Levi Johnston: The five Stupidest things that happened this election

"Don't touch me."

This election has been as historic as its candidates and their surrogates have been retarded. The number of milestones crossed is rivaled only by the number of times someone said or did something jaw-droppingly stupid. Herewith is a quick rundown of the five stupidest campaign trail blunders, according to our own dumbass opinions. (Note: For the sake of wanting to leave the office before midnight, we left out the couple hundred asshat misstatements Sarah Palin has made thus far.)

1. Levi agreed to marry Bristol

Knocking up the Governor's daughter is one notch on the belt that any cocksman as skilled as Levi Johnston would be a fool to pass up. When a young man as sexually and sensually alive as Levi manages something like that at the young age of 17, it's clearly the beginning of his career as a playboy, and he's not looking for a chance to settle down.

For the sake of the campaign, though, he was asked to make an honorable woman out of our Bris-Bris, and he was surely bribed with promises of the White House helping him out with his hockey career or his country music novelty song career or whatever the hell a redneck dropout playboy like Levi would want to do with his life. Now that the White House dream is receding though, Mama Palin will surely not let Levi back out of the deal. 2012 is right around the corner, and she's going to make sure he doesn't walk out on her little girl. The future of the far right depends on it.

2. Those two weeks of Democratic pants-shitting after Sarah Palin joined McCain's ticket

Holy crap! Remember when we all thought it was over? Just because someone's Mom got onstage and started shitting on community organizers for 40 minutes? This was more evidence than ever that the Democratic Party has the self-esteem of a battered woman. We know we're going to get our asses kicked, and we just assume that's the way it's supposed to be. Hopefully Obama will win big enough to give the party a little boost in the confidence department.

3. Biden delivered a speech titled, "The End of the World Will Occur Exactly Six Months From January 20th, 2009"

Yes, we all love making fun of Mr. Foot in the Mouth, but what the hell was he even trying to say there? If you just wandered in in the middle you'd assume you were at a book club discussion of Cormac McCarthy's "The Road." It's not gaffes or "rhetorical flourishes." In Biden's case, it has to be pain pills. That's the only way to explain it.

4. Obama revealed his closely guarded communist agenda to an unlicensed plumber he happened to bump into in the street

Everyone knows that Democrats are the party of Karl Marx and medical marijuana. But you're not supposed to say it out loud! And to a guy like Joe the Plumber no less? If we saw Joe The Plumber in the street we'd assume he's coming to beat us with a tire iron because we dress queer. We certainly wouldn't stop and tell him that we plan to end capitalism. Smarten up Barack!

5. Ashley Todd scratched a backwards B in her face when a backwards O would have been much more convincing

Of all the stupid things that are wrong with that Ashley Todd scam, this is the one that we just can't get our heads around. Why not an O? It's immediate. It's easy to carve. And you can't do it effing backwards! If it had been an O, we predict that story would have stayed alive through the whole weekend. Instead, they picked it apart within 18 hours. Crazy is one thing, but crazy and stupid? That's just bad politics.

Grasping for straws...

2008-11-03T23:21:00.000-08:00

And here comes the flood of every last chance smear attack from the Wing Nut Daily. You can almost feel the spittle flying off their lips as they mash the keyboard typing up this junk. Get it all out, guys...all the associations and questions. I especially love how they try to introduce a point about Obama's voting record and instead of actually making the point they just slip back into more associations and supposed influences.

What you don't know about Barack Obama
Black liberation theology, birthplace, religion still remain question marks

Posted: November 03, 2008
11:18 pm Eastern

By Jerome R. Corsi
© 2008 WorldNetDaily

Obama and top fundraiser Tony Rezko, a business partner and close friend of Auchi

NEW YORK – Birthplace, religion, black liberation theology, passport, Pakistan, school expenses and records, house deal, friends, mentors and clients.

These are among the questions that despite months of campaigning for the presidency of the United States, thousands of hours in front of reporters and cameras, and hundreds of members of a massive campaign staff, the public still doesn't have fully answered about Illinois Sen. Barack Obama.

Just four years ago, Obama essentially was an unknown state legislator who with the help of the Chicago political system took over a seat in the U.S. Senate. He stated then he was unqualified for national office, but within about two years launched his bid for the White House, knocking off one of the powerhouses of Democratic politics, Sen. Hillary Clinton, in the primaries.

The questions, then, abound as he's proposed giving the United Nations hundreds of billions of dollars, promised 95 percent of Americans a tax cut and pledged to pursue environmental campaigns even if coal companies go bankrupt because of that.

(Story continues below)

He's also stated the U.S. Supreme Court should have stepped beyond the Constitution and ventured into plans for wealth redistribution, he's told a plumber his goal is just to "spread the wealth," and his wife has said people will need to give up their piece of the pie so that others can have more.

All without answers to key questions.

Among those issues remaining to be explained fully are his acquaintances in his Chicago political career, who include:

Antoin "Tony" Rezko, an associate of Arab-Syrian descent who was a campaign fundraiser for Obama. Obama returned an estimated $225,000 in Rezko-generated campaign contributions since Obama first ran for Illinois state senate in 1995 but Rezko also assisted when Obama bought a $4 million dream property in Hyde Park. Currently Rezko's a convicted federal felon.
Professor Edward Said, a Muslim professor at the University of Chicago who was strongly pro-Palestinian and pro-Arab. He promoted Barack and Michelle Obama in the Chicago Arab community. He's deceased.
Rashid Khalidi, a Muslim professor at the University of Chicago and Columbia who was funded by the Woods Fund grants approved by Obama and unrepentant terrorist William Ayers. Khalidi founded the Arab-American Action Network and is the author of several strongly pro-Paliestinian, anti-Israel books.
Ali Abunimah, a Palestian-American Muslim journalist who promoted Obama in his writings and was editor of "The Electronic Intifada" of the Arab American Action Network. He claims Obama has modified his pro-Palestinian position.
Nadhmi Auchi, a Muslim Iraqi billionaire who is the cousin of Saddam Hussein. He wired more than $3 million as a "loan" to Mrs. Rezko when the Obamas purchased their dream property. He's the largest private shareholder of Bank BPH in Paris and was the reputed bagman for Saddam Huseein in the "oil for fuel" United Nations scandal. He was fined $3 million and given a 15-month prison term in France for his involvement in $100 million in illegal commissions in a scandal involving French oil giant Elf Aquitane.
Aihm Alsammarae, a Muslim Iraqi who is the former Iraqi minister of electricity. He contributed $2,500 to the Obama 2008 campaign and is a close friend of Rezko. He ran a scheme to corner the Iraqi cellular phone market and was sprung from an Iraqi prison in 2006 by a mysterious group of masked and heavily armed men who broke him out of prison. He fled to Chicago.
Jabir Herert Huhammad, son of Nation of Islam founder Elijah Muhammad, now deceased. Federal prosecutors alleged that Huhammad participated with Abdelhamid Chaib and Rezko in a scheme to use money borrowed from Mutual Bank of Harvey for allegedly fraudulent real estate deals. The bank is owned by Amrish Mahajan, an Indian and CEO of the bank, which lent $3.4 million to Rezko.
Abdelhamid "Ali" Chaib, a Muslim who is a long-time Rezko associate who ran Crucial Concessions Food Business set up by Jabir Muhammad, and allegedly was involved in a $1.32 million partner scheme to securitize loans, in part to assist Jabir Herert Huhammad purchase a pizza franchise that questionably added to the Rezko-Jabir Muhammad food concessions business. Obama returned to Chaib in 2004 a $5,000 campaign contribution made in 2003 to Obama's 2004 U.S. Senate campaign after Chaib's indictment in the alleged Crucial Concessions Food fraud scheme was announced.
Davis Miner Branhill & Galland. This was the law firm for which Obama worked starting in 1993. While here he represented "Rezmar," a community development firm owned by Tony Rezko and Dan Mahru that bilked low-income community housing projects that borrowed billions for property developments allegedly made fraudently. Eleven of the 30 alleged failed Rezmar properties were in Obama's state senate district.

Then also there are the influences on Obama's career, from the one-time writer of a sex novel, Frank Marshall Davis, to unrepentant terrorist Bill Ayers, with whom Obama served on boards.

This is significant since voters have only a few years of Obama's U.S. Senate record on which to judge him, and while a state legislator he voted dozens of times "present" in moves that would not reveal support for or opposition to an issue or position.

Among the subjects of those questions are:

Frank Marshall Davis, a communist poet and journalist from Chicago who moved to Hawaii. He ghost-wrote a pornographic novel titled "Sexual Rebel: Black (Memoirs of a Gash Gourmet)." He also sold drugs from a Chicago-style hot dog stand while Obama and Obama's grandfather were present, according to allegations made by WND private investigator hired in Hawaii. According to Obama's autobiography, "Dreams from My Father," Davis was a close confident to Obama, influencing Obama's ideas on radical racial relations. He is deceased.
Malcom X, Stokely Carmichael and Frantz Fanon were three radical, anti-white black rage authors Obama tells readers influenced him as a youth. Black-rage attitudes developed by reading these authors influenced both Obama's decision to become a radical community organizer in Chicago and to join Rev. Jeremiah Wright's black liberation theology Trinity United Church of Christ in Chicago.
Saul Alinksy. Obama's first job in Chicago was to head the Alinsky-influenced Developing Community Project, Inc. Obama also participated in teaching Alinsky-methods of radical income redistribution in classroom settings. Obama's current policies of "distributing wealth" stem from anti-capitalist attitudes developed in studying Alinsky's radical works, such as his seminal book entitled "Rules for Radicals."
Rev. Jeremiah Wright. Pastor for 20 years while Obama was a practicing member of black liberation theology at Trinity United Church of Christ in Chicago. Obama heard anti-white, black-rage theology from Wright. First indication Obama was Christian was when he was baptized in his 30s as a member of United Church of Christ. Obama separated from congregation at Trinity United Church of Christ after Rev. Wright came under criticism, although Obama has yet to reject black liberation theology.
William Ayers and Bernardine Dorhn. Members of the SDS-affiliated radical Weather Underground in the 1960s and 1970s. Obama began his political career at Ayers' home in 1995 when running for the Illinois state senate. Obama served with Ayers on two Chicago foundations, the Annenberg Challenge and the Woods Fund, giving millions in grants to radicalized programs in Chicago's schools. Obama now claims to disavow Ayers' radical politicals.
Kenyan Prime Minister Raila Odinga. He's a Luo tribesman affiliated with Obama's father when Odinga's communist father was Kenya's first vice president after Kenyan independence and Obama's father was a Harvard-educated economist working in the Jomo Kenyatta government. Obama campaigned openly for Odinga for president in 2006 when Obama was in Kenya on a U.S. Senate "fact-finding" mission. Kenya's president Kibaki asked Obama to stop interfering with Kenyan presidential politics. Obama raised an alleged $1 million for Odinga to run for president in Kenya in Dec. 2007, adding to the $1 million raised for Odinga's 2007 presidential campaign by Libyan dictator Moammar Gadhafi. When Odinga lost the Dec. 2007 presidential election by approximately 233,000 votes, Odinga called for protests which led his Luo tribesmen to murder approximately 1,000 Kikuyu tribesman, displace another 350,000 Kikuyu tribesmen, and destroy 800 churches, while not a single mosque was destroyed. Obama helped negotiate a settlement in which Odinga was appointed co-head-of-state and appointed prime minister to end the violence, even after it became publicly disclosed Odinga signed a letter of understanding with radical Muslims in Kenya in return for their votes.

Finally, these are the top questions about Obama that remain unanswered:

Why won’t Obama allow the public to see the doctor-generated, hospital releseased birth certificate?
Was Obama born in Kenya or Hawaii, as his campaign continues to maintain?
Was Obama officially adopted by his Muslim stepfather when he lived in Indonesia with his mother and stepfather, from the ages of approximately 6 to 10 years old?
Did Obama ever renounce his U.S. passport? Has Obama ever traveled internationally on a passport other than a U.S. State Department-issued passport?
Did Obama travel to Pakistan as a student on a U.S. passport, or on an Indonesian passport? Why did Obama travel to Pakistan, who did he visit there and what was the purpose of the trip?
How did Obama pay his tuition at the exclusive high school preparatory Punahou Academy he attended in Hawaii, as well as his college tuition at Occidental in California and at Columbia at New York?
How did Obama pay his tuition at Harvard Law School?
Why will Obama release none of the school records at any of the schools he attended?
Obama’s school records in Indonesia show that at both the Catholic and public school he attended there he was registered as a “Muslim” and an “Indonesian Citizen.” Was Obama ever officially instructed in Islam, even in elementary school?
Why has Obama refused to discuss the clients he served when he worked for the law firm of Davis Miner Barnhill & Galland in Chicago?
Was Obama ever compensated by Tony Rezko on the millions Rezko borrowed to redevelop the low-income housing projects in Chicago that Rezko evidently defrauded of the improvements contracted by Obama's firm to be made in the low-income projects involved?
Has Obama’s campaign instituted sufficient fiscal controls to determine if any credit card contributions made to his 2008 presidential campaign have come illegally from foreign sources? Have any such foreign contributions been reported to Federal Election Commission authorities and returned, as required by federal law?
Has Obama ever renounced Black Liberation Theology as espoused by chief Black Liberation Theologist Dr. James Cone?
Has Obama ever renounced Islam?
Why have the detailed minutes and funding activities of the Woods Fund and the Annenberg Challenge documents in which William Ayers and Barack Obama participated never been completely released to the public?

While no campaign probably ever will put to rest every question voters may have, these are significant in that the next occupant of the White House will be making decisions on the security of the nation and the life and death issues of society, decisions that in all likelihood will be influenced by the beliefs and positions of the president.

Drive-By Truckers endorse Sen. Obama for President - Patterson Hood

2008-11-03T23:00:00.000-08:00

http://clicks1.musictoday.com/cts/click?q=1;104799;nk0Kja1TreACvvFFKLMVgA%3D%3D

UNCLE PHIL AND AUNT PHYLLIS IN THE MONTH AFTER THE ELECTION

I wrote this song the week after the 2004 Presidential Election.

I was in a state of semi-shock and near-depression as my daughter's birth was impending and I was depressed to think of her born into the world during a Bush Presidency.

It was recorded live in the studio at Chase Park Transduction with me on the microphone, David Hood (my Dad) on the bass guitar, Johnny Neff playing some sleazy sounding electric guitar, Brad Morgan playing the drums, and David Barbe on the B3. It was late at night and everyone's spirits were high.

I am throwing this out as my election week gift to you.

Please get out and vote.

I will be voting for Obama because I think he has the guts, vision judgment and smarts to guide us through these troubled times and help America regain her prominence in the 21st century.

It's time for a change and not four more years of bullshit.

Jr. has wrapped the Camaro around too many telephone poles and it's time to take his keys away.

LONG LIVE AMERICAN DEMOCRACY.

Respectfully Yours,
Patterson Hood

Click here to download

Todd Palin is a minority

2008-11-03T16:00:00.001-08:00

Okay this doesn't really fit in the "debunking attacks" category, but it is just as ridiculous.

http://www.ireport.com/docs/DOC-132425

My deepest condolences to you and yours, Mr. Obama

2008-11-03T14:41:00.000-08:00

Barack Obama's grandmother has passed away.

I lost my grandmother 2 years ago this month. It was hard, I was close to her, and her admiration and love for me meant a lot. I know what this feels like, and I send my sincere regards to the entire Obama and Dunham families and their friends.

Racism didn't work? Scare the Jews!

2008-11-03T14:15:00.000-08:00

Well that title might be a little misleading. It's probably pretty fair to say that Jews who are going to be afraid of a repeat Holocaust and who are worried of Barack's associations with (meaning - that fact that he has spoken with - not that he has agreed with them or anything) suspected terrorists or Palestinian sympathizers, are probably just as likely to be worried about black people...Hey, I'm Jewish, I've got Jewish grandparents, I've heard them say things...I'm just saying it's not that far of a stretch.

But what I do find offensive is the Republican party's willingness to play yet another race-like card in the election. Specifically, there have been claims of Obama's anti-Israel stance, friendships with PLO operatives, the still prevalent yet thoroughly debunked rumor that he is Muslim, and of course the claim that agreeing to meet with one of the leaders of countries that "do not like us very much" as McCain and Palin are wont to say, automatically validates all of their beliefs and sends a signal that Obama means "Death to Israel".

Give me a break.

First, this country and BOTH parties are so pro-Israel I doubt that any president would get very far with any anti-Israel measures or beliefs. Just not going to happen.

Secondly, most of these claims are just false. For one, Obama is not a Muslim (and even if he was, it doesn't automatically mean he supports suicide bombings or the destruction of Israel, many peaceful Muslims do in fact exist), and the fear-mongering of Rashid Khalidi is largely exaggerated. Khalidi, by most acocunts, is a respected scholar who presents fair arguments without being incendiary, as right wingers like to push. He may not hold the most popular set of beliefs for hardcore Pro-Israel activists, but painting him in the light he has been portrayed by the right-wing is deceitful. Summed up here:

Dr. Khalidi is a respected scholar, author and educator. Contrary to the allegations contained in these attacks, Dr. Khalidi is a longtime public supporter of Israeli-Palestinian peace and the two-state solution, and an opponent of violence and terror. His analysis has helped the world better understand the Palestinian historical and political narrative - understanding that is a requirement for the achievement of Israeli-Arab peace - and has underscored both the challenges and the opportunities that exist for advancing a peaceful resolution of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

Jews are fearful people, generally speaking, with very good reason to be. We've been persecuted throughout our existence, yet have prevailed. But exploiting these concerns about another Holocaust, radical Palestinian associations, etc, is just wrong. Obama has been very vocal about his support for Israel and many prominent Jewish scholars support him and give him their endorsements. Here's a good example:

Obama can inspire much-needed support for Israel among this next generation of American Jews. He reflects their idealism and speaks in the language of hope they understand. His approach to international affairs shows a commitment to restoring America's reputation and to working with our allies to combat war, poverty, disease, and environmental destruction. He has articulated a vision for American society that does not ask us to ignore our differences--religious, racial, or economic--but to set aside divisive rhetoric and acknowledge that we all have a stake in building a more ethical society. Under his leadership a renewed America can help to foster a renewed Israel. Barack Obama is an inspiring American, willing and able to lead this nation and the world to new heights in very perilous times. I will vote for him with enthusiasm. - Edgar M Bronfman, former president of World Jewish Congress

Jews need not be afraid of Obama, most are not, and he's not a danger to the state of Israel. Get over it, right-wing. The polls show Jews overwhelmingly support Obama anyway.

Race Baiting and the Carved "B"

2008-11-03T13:40:00.000-08:00

This is just so far over the line of common decency. The following story embodies the entire campaign of fear of the black man that the Republican strategy has centered around. Still the McCain campaign has refused to comment on this case once all the details came to light, which is especially troubling when it was campaign staffers themselves who perpetrated this act and spread the false details about the circumstances in the first place. It's shameful to say the least and I'm really disappointed that candidate did not even issue a statement denouncing the actions of his staff.

In a nutshell, a 20-year old female, who worked for the McCain campaign, claimed that after a night of making calls, she stopped at an ATM on the way home and was robbed and beaten because of the McCain sticker on her car. To really drive home their point, she described the robber as a 6'4" black male who got angry upon noticing her McCain sticker, beat her, said he was going to teach her a lesson, and then carved the letter "B" into her face ("B" for Barack, as we were lead to believe). A couple inconsistencies right away:

1. How would the attacker know that was her car?

2. Why was the letter "B" BACKWARDS on her face?

Just to name a few...anyways all the news sources and blogs were all over this thing, and speculation was pretty high. Well as it turned out, it was all made up. There was no attacker and no black man. This part right here is the worst, making up a story is one thing, but blaming it on a black man is just crying for racist labellings when you're proven to be a liar. So there was no black man. The video from the ATM (they have those ya know) didn't show her at the machine. The "B" was indeed backwards because she did it herself in the mirror. And the news sources all quoted a McCain campaign staffer as relaying the initial story to them...so they were either misinformed from the beginning and have not apologized or attempted to set the record straight, or they were in on it from the beginning and won't admit they tried to propagate a story to whip up frenzy about racial stereotypes and fear of black people. The campaign openly pushed this story with a clear racial agenda for political gain, but was proven to be a hoax of the nastiest kind. The "victim" was later found out to have been kicked off the Ron Paul campaign earlier in the year for similar crap. Nice vetting process there, red campaign.

Some more info on that here

Vote "Fraud"

2008-11-03T11:08:00.000-08:00

There are three types of fraud that can occur in the voting process; one is fraudulent registration of voters, which ACORN has been accused of. Another is voter suppression, which the Republican have been accused of, and the third is actual voter fraud, which is when a voter votes multiple times, a dead person shows up to vote, or a fictional character casts a vote. The third is the least likely and usually does not happen, but the Republicans are more than happy to connect a bad registration to a fake vote without any evidence whatsoever that proves this would actually happen, nevermind the strict regulations that would prevent such voter fraud from occurring in the first place.

This whole thing with ACORN filling out faulty registration forms is a result of the voter suppression tactics the Republicans are famous for. The Republicans want less people to vote. They certainly are doing their part to challenge registrations and eligibility of minorities, and in some cases have been quilty of tricking Democrats into registering as Republicans or even shredding registrations in Democratic precincts. Here's a good example of some Republican tactics:

http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-fraud20-2008oct20,0,3842357.story

Anyway, to battle this, the Dems want more people to vote, so they are pretty dilligent in the Get Out The Vote (GOTV) ground operation. Unfortunately, groups like ACORN have earned themselves a spotty reputation with some questionable activity, HOWEVER there's no link to suggest signing up Mickey Mouse actually means that a fictional person named Mickey Mouse actually will or even could cast a vote. There are ID checks in place. So that's a non-issue.

Finally, the folks that report the registration fraud and inconsistencies to the government to get them involved? ACORN themselves, that's right. They have an interest in only turning in accurate records. Sure some may slip through the cracks but they check their work first and toss out duplicate registrations. It is unfortunate that many of the volunteers or paid staffers working for ACORN are lower-class people who aren't always looking out for the best interest of the country or their employer. It's a small price to pay to help more people legitimately get registered to vote. The Republicans would prefer less people have the right, while the Dems insist everyone has the same right and they're willing to deal with a little extra dead weight on the frontend to make sure they get as many people as possible involved in the end process, casting their vote and obeying their civic duty.

A couple of good links to keep you busy...

2008-11-03T10:59:00.000-08:00

Here are a couple of posts that sum up a lot of these attacks really nicely. Obviously I was inspired by these, enough to start my own blog, but everyone has a different way of presenting the information so for diversity's sake, check these out:

Cover this! Inside the nastiest ’08 rumors

http://www.politico.com/news/stories/1008/15106.html

Great Moments in Election-Year Blogging

http://jonswift.blogspot.com/2008/10/great-moments-in-election-year-blogging.html

Ayers again...did a terrorist write Obama's autobiography? Does the Right understand the meaning of AUTObiography?!?!

2008-11-03T10:14:00.000-08:00

The next topic I will cover concerns the claim that Barack Obama did not write his own autobiography, instead it was penned by former and "unrepentant" terrorist, Bill Ayers. Of course this serves not only to discredit Obama and his ability to pen his own autobiography, it also insinuates there is a much deeper connection between Obama and Ayers and suggests the terrorist had a much greater influence on Obama's thoughts than he has admitted.

A Republican supporter offered $10,000 to a professor at Oxford to run a piece of software that can compare literary works for similarities in the author's writing styles. $10 grand to discredit Obama. Of course, with the sample provided, the conclusion was that there was not a significant similarity and the works were likely not penned by Ayers as was implied. When asked to analyze the entire works for a more conclusive answer, the Oxford professor said he would do it despite the doubt he had there was any relation that could be proved, but he would of course release the results either way. The Republican operative fell back and dropped the issue when he couldn't control the results.

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/us_and_americas/us_elections/article5063279.ece

Another tape fiasco

2008-11-03T09:08:00.000-08:00

Real quick here...Fox, Drudge and many others are getting their panties in a bunch about a supposedly hidden tape from an interview with the San Francisco Chronicle, which was only just released, that provides damning evidence about Barack's intentions to "bankrupt" the clean coal industry. The thing is, the Chronicle says this has been available all along since January, and actually Obama and McCain are pretty even when it comes to ideas on clean coal. But they have manufactured a scheme to hide information in order to further imply that Obama is a man in shadows.

http://feeds.dailykos.com/~r/dailykos/index/~3/R0OFVQfM8d0/650566

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/blogs/sfgate/detail?blogid=14&entry_id=32228&type=politics

Oh yeah, honorable mention for the Obama Grandmother tape...Sarah Obama, Barack's paternal grandmother, who lives in Kenya and only speaks Swahili, supposedly confirms Obama's birth in Kenya and that she was there. The proof? An extremely tinny, unlistenable recording from a source even the right admits is EXTREMELY questionable, of a phone call in which a shady street minister supposedly speaks with an interpreter sitting with Sarah Obama in which she confirms through affirmative answers to this street minister Ron McRae's questioning that the above claim is true. But the funny thing is that you can barely understand even the english coming from the other end of the phone call, let alone the Swahili in her answers, nor are there any verifications (and I doubt it would be possible with the horrible quality of the audio) that Ms. Obama even understood the questions let alone whether her answers are what they say they are...and then there's the question of whether this is even Sarah Obama at all, how can anyone know if they just picked some random person to stand next to them and say anything in another language and then have a fake interpreter giving the desired answers?

See for yourself: http://www.americasright.com/2008/11/sarah-obama-tapes.html

Republicans, while reluctant to trust our own politicians, media, news outlets, common sense, etc, are perfectly happy to place their faith in the tinny recorded phone call of a foreigner who'se language they cannot understand and must believe the interpretation that has been provided to them by an obviously very biased source.

3 words (more or less)

2008-11-03T08:17:00.001-08:00

Apparently the Republican party can't win with logical arguments, defined plans, or honorable and inspiring commentary. No, they need to boil down their message to it's most simple form, the 3 word chant. These anti-intellectuals must have hired writers from children's television because everything sounds like the name of an infant's TV show.

Joe the Plumber

Drill Baby Drill

Mac is Back

Send him Back (Obama back to the senate)

Spread the wealth

Thanks but no Thanks

We're Mavericks

We're reformers

Cut the Pork

Make them Famous

Tito the Builder (this guy is priceless)

and so on...

How about some real substance? Or are we filming the next Steven Seagall movie here?

Joe the Plumber

2008-11-03T07:54:00.000-08:00

Good morning...1 day to go before the election and I'm really going to try and hit all the important points here, at least until the election is over tomorrow and probably after that too. It's just been building up inside of me and I've got to let it all out!

So my next point of ridiculousness comes in the form of America's most famous toilet plunger, Joe the Plumber. This "average guy" (I have doubts about his true intentions) got in Obama's face and asked him a pointed question about taxes and small business owners.

I think that's great.

Really, I am proud for Samuel "Joe the Plumber" Wurzelbacher, who had the courage to approach a presidential candidate which did not share his views, look him in the eyes and ask him a question that really cuts to the chase of Obama's core economic plans. Seriously, bravo Joe, that was a great moment for you. However, it all goes downhill from here.

Obama answered his question, in fact if you watch the entire 6 minute exchange I think he really tries to explain precisely what he will do and give some background as to why he wants to do it. Agree with him or not, he did not blow the question off simply because it put him on the defensive and he certainly paid Joe lots of attention for his efforts. But Joe wasn't happy enough with it. He claimed Obama had just given him the circular talk most politicians are famous for and never a real answer. He got to throw his gotcha question to a presidential candidate, and even scored a soundbite for the conservatives with the comment about "spreading the wealth", but apparently he was caught off guard that Obama took the time to answer him and Joe decided that wasn't good enough for the American people. He thrust himself into the spotlight and national news cameras, that was his own doing. And everything since has been a downward spiral of nonsense. I don't think it's right that Joe's personal info has been shared with the world, but I also don't think this guy deserves all the attention he's getting. Clearly he doesn't have a lot of views of his own...He has his own opinions, but we all know the old adage - Opinions are like assholes, everyone's got one. That's fine. But he goes out campaigning for McCain and Palin and giving speeches where he doesn't even know what he's saying, admits that he's not expert on anything, encourages the voters to go out and research this stuff for themselves (that part I agree with), and then ruins it all by making some dumbass conclusion and stumping for the Republicans over and over even though he still hasn't made any arguments about anything. He brings up like half a point on something, gives his "working man" opinion and then says he's no expert go find out for yourself. If you can't even back up your own talking points, don't bother spreading them and telling people to check for themselves because if you didn't, they probably won't either. When you're appealing to the lowest common denominator, you need to speak in clear language.

Which I guess is one reason Joe the Plumber has become so popular with the anti-intellectual, beer-swilling masses being pandered to by the Republican party. It's 3 words, and it sounds like a toddler's TV show. Easy to grasp, they like that.

But here's the real kicker for me. Last week on the campaign trail, a supporter asked Joe, again while cameras were rolling, if he agreed that "a vote for Barack Obama is a vote for the death of Israel"...and Joe said he'd have to go ahead and agree with this guy. Now Joe hasn't offered ANY background for his position. He was afterwards interviewed on Fox News, by Shepard Smith, about his viewpoint, and he simply could not provide any reasons why he would agree with this statement.

PEOPLE - THE MAN IS A PLUMBER, NOT A FOREIGN POLICY EXPERT!

It really pisses me off too because as Jew, I feel like I know a little about Israel. I've actually been there. But what does Joe know about Israel and why, when Obama has clearly stated his support for the country, does Joe maintain he would mean "death" to Israel?? If he could only explain why he thinks that it would be one thing, but he can't, because he's just randomly agreeing with any outrageous statement that can be made.

The exchange on Fox News had to have been the nail in the coffin here, at least one would think. Even Fox's Smith claimed it was truly frightening that someone with so little knowledge or ability to voice their concerns was out there making blanket statements like this and influencing voters. But Joe remains on the campaign trail and is one of the cornerstones of McCain's plans, which probably won't benefit him at all.

late edit: Just needed to add this link in for reference: http://www.mediabistro.com/tvnewser/politics/joe_the_plumber_has_some_thoughts_on_the_israelipalestinian_conflict_98934.asp

The "Tapes"

2008-11-02T21:43:00.000-08:00

All the right wingers are up in arms about a bunch of purported "tapes" which will once and for all prove beyond the shadow of a doubt that Barack and his wife are white-hating anti-Semites and are involved in international genocide.

First, there's the LA Times tape of Obama at a dinner for Rashid Khalidi. We know this tape does in fact exist, but LA Times won't release it. They reported on it a while back, but there was nothing suspicious about it then. Now that there's questions about Obama's associations, there's fear that the times he's been around people who have before expressed unpopular sentiments that Obama himself has joined in the fun. Nevermind that Obama never associates himself with any of their beliefs, denounces them when appropriate, and has never been suspected of doing otherwise. But they claim the existence of, and refusal by the LA Times to release, this tape, is proof enough that Obama was videotaped either nodding in approval or maybe even leading the cries of death to Israel with former PLO operatives. More likely, there was nothing else of importance on the tape, the LA Times wants to protect its sources, and that's that.

Then there's the Michelle Obama tape. Well, two of them actually. Neither of them exist. The first is fairly predictable really. Bill O'Reilly reports and some other hack confirms two days later that there's a tape of Michelle Obama referring to white people as Whitey. That never happened, no tapes have been seen, it's just sily. Then there's the other tape, such a far-fetched story as to be barely believable. My eyes roll back in my head as I type this...this guy claims Michelle Obama called him, ranted on about how those that don't support Barack are racists, and admitted various things about her husband that would be damaging to his presidency. This was reported on a blog called African Press International. It's some random Kenyan living in Norway who blogs about African politics mostly, and sells designer handbags through ads on his site. One day he wrote (or reposted, a lot of the material there is sourced from other sites) about the controversy surrounding Obama's birth certificate and the suit brought by Philip Berg, since it was being suggested Obama was born in Kenya...Kenyan news agency sees story about American politician maybe being born in Kenya, and reports it. Nobody really noticed except the wingnuts following this story who then went to API to start posting...I'm sure the editor Korir saw this as a great way to increase his popularity and noteworthiness, so he then claimed that Michelle was upset an African publication would repeat stories damaging to her husband. Because instead of calling US bloggers and news outlets which reported on Phil Berg's case charging that Obama must reveal his vault Birth Certificate, she picked the one nobody ever heard of on the other side of the world to express her disappointment and bribe them with an invitation to the inaugeration ceremony. But wait, there's more.

So Michelle Obama in a fit of rage picks up the phone to speak to the Chief Editor at API, a completely unknown blog, and somehow he manages to tape the whole conversation. Without getting into painful details, he insists there are tapes and they will be released, but always ties it to a deadline with a pre-emptive excuse about what could go wrong and that we all need to pray for him. Without fail, each deadline comes and passes, and each thing he warned about happens as he said it would. People continue to have faith in this man who they've never met on another continent with no verifiable credibility. It's now at the point where he has named Fox News as the recipient of the tapes and there is some agreement (which he also has not revealed any proof of) to air the tapes. Just hours ago that "deadline" passed again, and have I mentioned that numerous times over the last few days Fox has had to deal with irate morons demanding access to this fictional tape and have posted several statements denying all claims and confirming it is a lie? Fox News may not be my favorite new network but I still believe them when even they won't play along with such a ridiculous assertion from a little known blog with no evidence, even a taste, to back up his claims. Tomorrow morning is supposed to be the final statement from API since Fox again "broke their agreement" by not airing the tapes for the last time. Will they air a tape tomorrow AM, which the public will have to rapidly examine for authenticity before the election on Tuesday, or will there be another delay? Maybe he will come clean, with a heartwarming story of how a little known Kenyan really just wanted to get recognized by the American media machine, but instead was embraced by a bunch of lunatic fear-mongerers sitting at their computers, hating people of the whole rainbow of colors, religious beliefs and sexual orientations that don't match their white christian straight ways, while pounding out incoherent blatherings about rapture and the love of Christ, spittle flying all over their depressed CAPSLOCK key and plastic Jesus!!!1!11

There are plenty of tapes of the Obama speaking at other events, in interviews, on the radio, where he brings up topics containing buzzword the right wind would have you believe are indicators of a betrayal to American policies. If an educated person watched those, they would understand that any time Obama touches on a topic, it's usually an intellectual discussion of a specifc aspect of that ideal, not a call for action by hoardes of supporters to take to the streets and round up capitalists and start forcing abortions on them.

Then there's this.

2008-11-02T21:38:00.001-08:00

Then there's this nonsense from Fox about how the McCain campaign should have listened MORE to a guy who they describe as "genuine out-there crazy" rant on about Obama's connection to Satan. Yeah, that one. Just read it yourself.

http://foxforum.blogs.foxnews.com/2008/10/23/jpinkerton_1023/

Hypocrisy and Projection

2008-11-02T20:12:00.000-08:00

Another common deception by the Right wing machine is through the use of projection. From Wikipedia:

In psychology, psychological projection (or projection bias) is a defense mechanism in which one attributes one’s own unacceptable or unwanted thoughts or/and emotions to others.

There are several prime examples. They say Obama "pals around" with unsavory characters. His "friends" are "anti-american". This is so simple to throw back in their faces but it brings the argument down to a lower level so I don't think mainstream media is as quick to report it, and certainly not as persistent as the rumor mill.

If Obama has Ayers, McCain has G. Gordon Liddy:

During the same period that Bill Ayers was a member of the Weather Underground, Gordon Liddy was making plans to firebomb a Washington think tank, assassinate a prominent journalist, undertake the Watergate burglary, break into the office of Daniel Ellsberg's psychiatrist, and kidnap anti-war protesters at the 1972 Republican convention. - from HuffPo

If Obama has Rev. Wright, Palin has her husband Todd, who was for 7 years a member of the Alaskan Independence Party, a secessionist group whose founder said:

"I'm an Alaskan, not an American. I've got no use for America or her damned institutions."

If Obama has Rashid Khalidi and ACORN, then McCain has...Rashid Khalidi and ACORN (you can't make this stuff up). First, a little about Khalidi:

“He is seen as a moderate in Palestinian circles, having decried suicide bombings against civilians as a ‘war crime’ and criticized the conduct of Hamas and other Palestinian leaders. Still, many of Khalidi's opinions are troubling to pro-Israel activists, such as his defense of Palestinians' right to resist Israeli occupation and his critique of U.S. policy as biased toward Israel.” - from LA Times

And the McCain connection:

But McCain has his own connection to Khalidi.

In 1993, McCain became chairman of the International Republican Institute. He still chairs that respected organization.

That same year, Khalidi helped found the Center for Palestine Research and Studies, self-described as “an independent academic research and policy analysis institution” created to meet “the need for active Palestinian scholarship on issues related to Palestine.” (Its archived Web site is HERE.)

Khalidi was on the board of trustees through 1999.

According to tax returns, the McCain-chaired IRI funded the organization Khalidi founded and served on to the tune of $448,873 in 1998 (click HERE to see the tax return)* as first reported by Seth Couter Walls at HuffPo. - from Jake Tapper at ABC News Blogs

Ans as for ACORN, well McCain rallied for them just a couple years ago in February 2006. In an official statement by ACORN:

October 13, 2008, Miami, FL - U.S. Senator John McCain's recent attacks on the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now (ACORN) are puzzling given his historic support for the organization and its efforts on behalf of immigrant Americans. As recently as February 20, 2006, Senator McCain was the keynote speaker at an ACORN-sponsored Immigration Rally in Miami, Florida at Miami Dade College – Wolfson Campus.

The same goes for the emtpy cries of "Socialism" on the campaign trail as McCain, Palin, their staff, and all the right-wing bloggers try to discredit Obama and scare Americans away with unfamiliar terms that they've been led to believe are principally immoral and bad. I think the truth is that most Americans couldn't define socialism if you gave them a dictionary. But that doesn't stop them from understanding it's evil and un-American. However these blanket statements of redistributing wealth, without taking into account or making note of the fact that ALL taxes re-distribute wealth in some way or another, paint the picture that Obama will take all of the average American's money before they even see it and give it out to whoever he thinks needs it most. That is simply not true. He's calling for changes that at worst represent a shift in the extreme unbalance of the classes, yes, but not total control of the population's wealth. But I digress...

Just a few years ago in 2000 McCain made nearly identical claims as Obama, and even tacitly approved of the definition of socialism when he said that it's okay for those above a certain level to pay a little more:

Responding to a question from a girl who wants to know why her her father, a doctor, pays a higher tax rate than people who earn less:
McCain: "I think it's to some degree because we feel, obviously, that wealthy people can afford more."

Doctor's daughter: Aren't we getting closer and closer to, like, socialism and stuff?

McCain: "Here's what I really believe. When you are, reach a certain level of comfort, there is nothing wrong with paying somewhat more."

Finally, many anti-Obama bloggers claim he's very secretive and there are so many unknowns about him, yet ignore the Palins' own reluctance to appear by subpoena to discuss their violations of ethics in the Troopergate scandal.

Nobody's 100% out in the open.

The Guilt By Association Game

2008-11-02T15:48:00.000-08:00

It seems another central theme to character attacks is to suggest that Obama's associations, regardless of the degree of closeness in their relationship, are predominantly nefarious and directly influence Obama's own set of beliefs and predicate his eventual actions as President. They assign descriptive terminology to these figures so the uninformed reader can quickly classify them as at least questionable if not wholly evil individuals. Terminology such as:

Radical

Terrorist

Communist

Socialist

Marxist

African

Arab

Muslim

Redistributor

Untested

Inexperienced

Liberal

Dangerous

Alternative

and so on...

There are a few things that I want to point out that bother me about this line of criticism of Barack Obama. It makes assumptions that are at times inaccurate and unfair, not to mention irresponsible and outright ridiculous. Assumptions like:

1. Certain individuals Barack has met in his life have had a profound and direct influence on his beliefs and intentions, especially the bad ones which make him a bad scary person.

2. Any level of association, even a second-degree or indirect connection, is equally likely to have this effect.

3. Obama's statements denouncing those unpopular beliefs are not genuine.

4. Obama's lack of action supporting or specific action contradicting those negative viewpoints is not enough to prove his innocence.

5. Although the information which is available about these associations is relatively benign, there have been other secretive interractions, that nobody has been able to provide evidence of, which reveal Obama's hidden agenda.

The reality is that there has never been any evidence that Obama's associations are any more significant than how he has characterized them and certainly nothing to suggest he was ever involved in any heinous activities. Nonetheless, the right wing continues to assert that these people's views are going to be responsible for the inevitable damage they predict will occur in an Obama presidency. People and groups such as:

Rev. Jeremiah Wright

Prof. William Ayers

Walter Annenberg

Raila Odinga

ACORN

New Party

Rashid Khalidi

The PLO

Bernadine Dohrn

Arab American Action Network

and so on...

Some are obvious, you've heard of them, here's an article on others:

http://rightwingnuthouse.com/archives/2008/05/30/obamas-radical-political-alliances/

The Carnival Begins

2008-11-02T14:52:00.000-08:00

I guess it's time to begin airing these ridiculous claims, and I think the right place to start is by going back to the central theme of the attacks - the question "Who is the real Barack Obama?". It really all starts there and the argument that truly cuts to the core to me is the issue of whether or not Barack Obama is indeed a Natural Born US Citizen.

Numerous sites and individuals cast doubt that the Presidential Candidate was actually born in Hawaii (one of the 50 United States of America) and suggest he was actually born in Kenya, or had at some point as a young child renounced his US citizenship while moving to Indonesia, or that he may actually be the son of Malcolm X. Yeah, that's right....you just have to read it yourself:

http://israelinsider.ning.com/profiles/blogs/is-obama-the-secret-son-of

These suppositions are raised despite the diligence in vetting that the Democratic party must have done before selecting a candidate, the word of Obama and his staff, and lack of evidence that proves otherwise. There are so many people and institutions who are staking their entire reputations, personal, political, and professional, on this single, simple qualification that if it were actually proven to be false it would be absolutely devastating. The evidence is clear and proves Barack Obama is indeed a natual born US citizen, and the doubts and claims of fraud are wrought with shadowy inconsistent rumors, hearsay, and ill-informed assumptions.

The Good, The Bad, and the Downright Insane

2008-11-02T14:28:00.000-08:00

Here's a short list of blogs and sites I've been reading leading up to this election...I consider these blogs windows into the news sources, not actual news themselves. Blogs are written by people like you and me, and aren't inherently credible...so it's important to understand that in reading blogs, the reader also has the responsibility to verify the source and not just the presentation of that information, because the real message can become twisted through interpretation. I do not assign responsibility to either political party for these blogs or for the news sources, and I want to make it clear I understand they are separate and independent from each other in most cases, but they still play an important part in spreading information and opinion to the masses and must be mentioned here. Whether being praised, scorned, probed, accepted, outrightly denied or tacitly approved, these blogs play an important role in the Political atmosphere we connected individuals live and breathe in. With that said, here are a few blogs I've found helpful, informative, entertaining (The Good), conspicuous, inconsistent, inconclusive (The Bad), or incredulous, frightening and harmful (The Downright Insane).

The Good:

Talking Points Memo - http://talkingpointsmemo.com/

Daily Kos - http://www.dailykos.com/

The Election Geek Blog - http://www.electiongeek.com/blog

Think Progress - http://thinkprogress.org/

MSNBC Politics - http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/3032553/

Steam Powered Opinions - http://steampoweredopinions.blogspot.com/

Balloon Juice - http://www.balloon-juice.com/

TV Newser - http://www.mediabistro.com/tvnewser/?c=rss

Politico - http://www.politico.com/

The Bad:

Little Green Footballs - http://www.littlegreenfootballs.com/weblog/

Drudge Report - http://www.drudgereport.com/

The Downright Insane:

World Net Daily - http://www.wnd.com/

Gateway Pundit - http://gatewaypundit.blogspot.com/

America's Right - http://www.americasright.com/

AND THE WORST IS: African Press International - http://africanpress.wordpress.com/

African Press International (API) is the worst of the worst because it is supposedly from a Kenyan in Norway who "reports" mainly on political unrest in his part of Africa, but suddenly decided to get famous by taking advantage of Obama's Kenya connections and lack of insight by the American people into their world, so when stories about Barack and Michelle Obama started spouting up people would think he had no reason or nothing to gain by lying and have permitted him (him being Chief Editor Korir, publisher of this blog) to "report" obvious lies and falsehoods repeatedly and with no evidence to back his claims. Being far away and unfamiliar with US Legal operations and Media reputations has been his excuse for delaying fulfilling his promises to make evidence available and he continues to draw out these fabricated stories to the delight and admiration of really delusional and hateful people who post idiotic nonsense in his comments.

To verify news, I check with multiple "liberal mainstream media" sources (sarcasm on the liberal part) such as CNN, MSNBC, CBS, ABC, PBS, and yes even Fox, various papers and fact checking sites like FactCheck.org and Politifact.org, Snopes.com, and above all, I try to look at things through a lens of common sense. If something is just so complicated, hard to believe, far-fetched and reported by sources with questionable credibility, I generally wait for hard and respected validation before I come to any conclusions.

First Post

2008-11-02T14:09:00.000-08:00

With only 2 days to go until the election, I felt like it was my last chance to speak my voice and maybe, if anyone actually reads this, I can make a difference. The goal here is to point out the ridiculous behavior and desperate attacks of the Republican Party (as well as their sympathizers and Punditious Partners) as they attempt to win the 2008 Presidential Election through a campaign of doubt and misinformation. It has become clear their only plan is to question the qualifications, integrity, and intentions of Barack Obama while propagating fear and distrust in American Politics and Media.

I will try to remain calm and focused as I post these examples of distraction and demonization, as well as try to stick to only the most egregious acts, those which have been patently disproven and thoroughly debunked. The timeline may be presented out of order, but the story remains the same.