The Birthers New Game

Dave Weigel notes how a new smear campaign launched from the right wing echo chamber has exploded across the usual media dumping grounds like Drudge and Fox News. The reports claim that Newark Mayor Cory Booker doesn't live in Newark. In fact, they go on to claim that he's never lived there and that his neighbors have never seen him around.

It's a rather fanciful tale, but the warning flags about these claims should come up from the byline on down.

For starters, let's look at who's peddling this particular story. It's Joel Gilbert, a director who's best known for putting together birther conspiracy films about how President Obama isn't an American citizen and should not be president. He's now doing the same thing with Cory Booker (another African American politician at that). It's meant to be disruptive, but it doesn't take much to rebuff this kind of transparent smear job that's worthy of James O'Keefe.

Substantively, these claims about Booker not living in Newark can't pass the smell test. Booker's presence in Newark is well documented on social media - especially Twitter. There are hundreds of messages relating to hyperlocal activities of Booker and his neighbors in Newark including helping out neighbors around the corner when the power went out during Hurricane Sandy. In particular, there's this exchange.

https://twitter.com/CoryBooker/statuses/263990447205122048

Local media reports and national media outlets followed the reporting and provided photos and interviews with those who stayed over at Booker's Newark home or came by to recharge phones, etc. It was widely reported. For instance, Huffington Post carried this story as part of the larger context of what people were doing to cope with the storm's effects. Time had a similar report, indicating that 12 of his neighbors crashed at his place, getting food delivered and watching kid-friendly DVDs.

Now, we've got Steve Lonegan aligned right wing media outlets peddling a smear about how Booker isn't a Newark residence. In fact, we've even got political operative Dick Morris pushing this nonsense and going beyond it to claim that he's got a plan to deny Booker a seat in the Senate based on lack of residency.

Politicker indicated that Booker gave his neighbors free reign to use an entire floor, including kitchen and bathroom, complete with photos. That's from November 2, 2012.

An easy Internet search disproves this nonsense, but that's actually besides the point. Lonegan and the right wing are trying to delegitimize candidates in any way, shape, or form. Birther and conspiracy theories all fit into the strategy to undermine their political opponents. It makes it easier to attack their political achievements when claiming that they aren't legitimate either. Putting this out there with less than 24 hours to go before the special election is meant to give Booker little time to counter the smear and take Booker off message.

It all comes at a time when Lonegan's long-shot chance at winning is getting longer. Lonegan's supposed closing rally in the polling is just that - supposed. He hasn't come any closer than double digits in any polls, and a few are indicating that Booker has regained a significant and comfortable lead.

Part of the reason that the spread has grown is that Booker has rightfully called Lonegan and his fellow travelers as the extremists as they are. Lonegan didn't help his cause any when he got Sarah Palin to stump for him. That only burnished his extremist credentials.

Lonegan's attack ads also attempt to throw every conceivable buzz word at Booker, even calling him corrupt. It hasn't worked, but it only shows that Lonegan is a one-trick pony who can gin up interest only by whipping right wingers into a frenzy.

While that can help rally the base, it wont peel off independents who are flocking to Booker and reinforces the fact that Lonegan is a tea party extremist who's comfortable with shutting down government and threatening default in order to extort the kind of defund/delay/destroy Obamacare demands that his fellow travelers in the House and Senate are pushing.

Lonegan is all kinds of wrong for New Jersey, and wrong for the country. Tomorrow's election should seal that fate.

Polls open in New Jersey's special election tomorrow at 6 am through 8pm.

Cross Posted at LGF

Mitt Romney Takes Idiocy To New Level

At a campaign rally in Las Vegas yesterday, presumptive GOP nominee Mitt Romney proposed a constitutional amendment that would make anyone who does not have a business background as ineligible for the White House as if they had been born in Kenya.

“I was speaking with one of these business owners who owns a couple of restaurants in town,” Romney said. “And he said ‘You know I’d like to change the Constitution, I’m not sure I can do it,’ he said. ‘I’d like to have a provision in the Constitution that in addition to the age of the president and the citizenship of the president and the birthplace of the president being set by the Constitution, I’d like it also to say that the president has to spend at least three years working in business before he could become president of the United States.‘”

Romney continued: “You see then he or she would understand that the policies they’re putting in place have to encourage small business, make it easier for business to grow.

That's right folks, he'd make someone like Dwight Eisenhower, Teddy Roosevelt, or even recent GOP candidates like John McCain, Mike Huckabee, or Rick Santorum ineligible to run for President because they lack so-called business experience.

Of course, this comes on the heels of Romney's courting of birther Donald Trump, so this isn't all that surprising. He's pandering to the extremists and thinks this is a winning strategy to win in November. It might help solidify his base, but it wont help him sway moderates or independents on which this election will depend (as it always done).

Far from moderating his positions to pull votes from the center, it seems that Romney is sticking to the hard right.

Romney's pushing this nonsense in an attempt to sway people on the economic conditions facing the nation, but his business experience isn't exactly the most sterling example of job creation. Bain Capital - the venture capital firm where he worked - was interested in making money for the firm - not job creation. Jobs were frequently killed in acquisitions and consolidations made by the firm. Creative destruction to be sure - someone made money on the transactions, but it doesn't help create jobs by shuttering factories.

Underwear Bomber Sentencing Underway With Expected Life Imprisonment

The admitted terrorist who sought to blow up a Northwest Airlines plane on its way to Detoit is in court today for sentencing. It's widely expected that Abdul Farouk Abdul Mutallab will receive a life sentence.

Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, the privileged son of a wealthy Nigerian banker, returns to federal court in Detroit on Thursday to receive a mandatory life sentence for trying to blow up Northwest Airlines Flight 253, four months after pleading guilty and admitting it was a suicide mission for al-Qaida.

The hearing is an open platform for passengers and crew who want to speak, but only five of nearly 300 are expected to address the court, according to the government.

Abdulmutallab, 25, tried to detonate explosive chemicals that were hidden in his underwear minutes before the plane landed at Detroit Metropolitan Airport. The government says he first performed a ritual in the lavatory — brushing his teeth and perfuming himself — and returned to his seat. The device didn't work as planned, but still produced flame, smoke and panic in the cabin.

"I've become bolder. I've become stronger," said passenger Shama Chopra, 56, of Montreal, who plans to speak in court. She ran unsuccessfully for the Canadian Parliament in 2011, a race she couldn't have imagined joining years ago.

"I don't have to feel weak," Chopra said in an interview Wednesday. "I don't have to be scared of anything. God has given me a second chance to live."

On the second day of the trial in October, Abdulmutallab suddenly pleaded guilty to all charges. In a defiant speech, he said he was carrying a "blessed weapon" to avenge Muslims who have been killed or poorly treated around the world. He admitted he was inspired by Anwar al-Awlaki, a radical American-born cleric and leading al-Qaida figure in Yemen who was killed by a U.S. drone strike last fall.

"The Quran obliges every able Muslim to participate in jihad and fight in the way of Allah those who fight you, and kill them wherever you find them ... an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth," Abdulmutallab said.

His lawyers are trying to argue that a life sentence is unconstitutional because he didn't succeed in carrying out the attack that was intended to blow up the plane and all those on board. That argument is a last-ditch attempt to avoid life in prison and it's not likely to work. Mutallab is expected to also give a statement, and I'd expect that he'll use the opportunity to once again rail against the American justice system, the US in general, and to reaffirm his support for jihad.

Yet, that's not the most bizarre part of today's hearing. Among the five people who are testifying today is a passenger, Kurt Haskell, who has been blogging that the terrorist was conspiring with the US government so as to pave the way for full-body scanners to be installed at airports.

Ron Paul SuperPAC Operated By Conspiracy Kook

Last week, Revolution PAC filed a notice with the FEC that it couldn't file required reports to identify donors due to a bank error.

This week, reporters have finally noticed that the PAC is operated by a Gary Franchi, a kook who sees conspiracies everywhere from 9/11 coverups to FEMA concentration camps and the New World Order. Oh, and it wouldn't be a conspiracy theorist without claiming that President Barack Obama is ineligible to be President of the US.

The leader of the group, its founder, chairman and treasurer, is Gary Franchi, a promoter of conspiracy theories and sophisticated social-media entrepreneur in the resurgent movement known as the Patriots.
The 34-year-old political activist from the Chicago suburbs told msnbc.com that his goal is a "non-violent intellectual revolution, which results in a full restoration of the federal Constitution."

Online videos produced by Franchi, and online interviews with him, add specifics:

• Franchi has supported the 9/11 Truth Movement, which supports the idea that the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, werean inside job to create a pretext for a reduction in American liberty, or at least involved a cover-up, with the World Trade Center brought down by a planned U.S. demolition, instead of terrorist-controlled airplanes. Franchi founded the Lone Lantern Society (a reference to Paul Revere indicating that foreign enemies are on American soil). The group supports "the birth of freedom and the death of the New World Order," a secretive elite that is supposedly trying to set up a world government. Lone Lantern has held street demonstrations on the 11th of every month in Chicago and elsewhere, demanding an investigation of 9/11. In New Hampshire in 2008, a video shows Franchi asking Tom Ridge, the former secretary of Homeland Security, who was campaigning for Sen. John McCain, whether Ridge would support an investigation of the "controlled demolition" of the World Trade Center. Ridge was having none of it, saying, "I just don't buy into that. That's a conspiracy theory that has no basis in fact. It's almost out of the Twilight Zone."
  
• According to a 2010 reportby the Southern Poverty Law Center, which tracks domestic fringe groups, "Gary Franchi is one of the leading promoters of a resurgent Patriot conspiracy theory that alleges the government is creating concentration camps for U.S. citizens." In 2009 he co-wrote and co-produced the video "Camp FEMA: American Lockdown," which claims that the Federal Emergency Management Agency is creating concentration camps on air bases and in vacant buildings to house political dissenters when the federal government proclaims martial law. "Your church may have already signed a deal with the devil," reads promotional material for the film. The film questions whether Census data will be used to round up Americans. Clips from Franchi's film on YouTubeshow Hitler youth marching while the narrator ominously describes President Obama's plans to expand AmeriCorps and the USA Freedom Corps, the volunteer initiative launched by the Bush administration after 9/11.
• Franchi operates Restore the Republic, which opposes the Federal Reserve, the IRS and the income tax, decries the control of the economy by the Rockefellers and the "banking cartel," and warns of government plans to plant RFID microchips into all Americans. The group was founded by Franchi and filmmaker and Libertarian presidential candidate Aaron Russo, and has been operated by Franchi since Russo's death from cancer in 2007. RTR shares an address with Revolution PAC in Northbrook, Ill. The group, which describes itself as a social media platform for like-minded individuals, promotes Russo's film, "America: Freedom to Fascism," in which Ron Paul declares, "If that's the definition of a police state — that you can't do anything unless the government gives you permission —we're well on our way." In a YouTube video interview with Franchi in 2008, Paul credited the Russo video with bringing a lot of people to his presidential campaign. The group has also placed billboards fueling the bogus claim that Obama is not an American citizen, asking, "Where's the REAL birth certificate?"

No surprise that Franchi has been a regular guest on Alex Jones' conspiracy-minded talk show.

What's surprising is that the media hasn't taken a closer look at Paul's supporters and super PACs until now. It's fertile ground for exposing the extremist views that are permeating Paul's campaign, to say nothing of the spillover effect on the rest of the Republican party, who feels that catering to extremists is the way to go.

Video Surfaces Showing Ron Paul Touting Racist Newsletter He Now Claims He Knew Nothing About

Ron Paul's chances for being anything more than a racist footnote in history have just dropped precipitously as video has surfaced of a Ron Paul advertisement touting the very newsletters he claims he knew nothing about.

A recently surfaced video from 1995 shows the GOP presidential hopeful discussing controversial newsletters that he claimed this week he didn't even read until about 2001.

The Texas congressman has come under fire in recent days for the newsletters, called Ron Paul's Political Report, Ron Paul's Freedom Report and the Ron Paul Survival Report, which went out under his name in the late 1980s and early 1990s during his time in and out of office.

Some contained a series of racist statements, including, "We are constantly told that it is evil to be afraid of black men, it is hardly irrational."

During the 1992 Los Angeles riots, another read, "Order was only restored in L.A. when it came time for the blacks to pick up their welfare checks."

In the resurfaced C-SPAN interview, Paul — then out of office and trying to return to Congress — describes the “educational” newsletters and seems to be knowledgeable of their contents.

"It covered a lot about what was going on in Washington: financial events, especially some of the monetary events, since I had been especially interested in monetary policy, had been on the banking committee and am still very interested in that subject," said the libertarian-leaning lawmaker.

Reuters unearned a racist direct mail newsletter, in which he's predicting a race war.

So, to sum up. He first admitted that he was involved in the newsletter, but denied writing the most incendiary posts. Now, as those allegations have resurfaced in the 2012 campaign, he came to deny having anything to do with those newsletters at all, even as more information has surfaced showing not only how racist and anti-Semitic those newsletters were, but that Paul actively touted them in places like CSPAN.

Yet, there's a significant number of Republicans and libertarians who tout Paul as a panacea to all that ails the nation. If they took more than a cursory look at Paul and his policies, they'd see just how of touch with mainstream America he is, to say nothing of his racist and anti-Semitic ideologies he's proffered in the past.

For instance, Paul's policy options include the following:

• eliminating FEMA (as though that's the reason that people build/live in areas that are flood/hurricane/quake zones?);
• eliminate the FDA (because anyone can come up with radium as a medical treatment, drug companies can and do try to get treatments approved that turn out to be more dangerous);
•  believes Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid are unconstitutional (apparently ignoring the Art 1, Sec. 8, Cl 1/18 necessary and proper for the general welfare);
• against the Americans with Disabilities Act; and
•  he's okay with Iran having a nuclear weapons.

So, not only does Paul have a shaky understanding of the US Constitution and has a domestic agenda that would put millions of Americans at risk, but has a foreign policy that even fellow Republicans find distasteful and dangerous. Burying your head in the sand about potential and actual threats to US strategic interests and our trading partners/allies, is dangerous to everyone. Isolationism has a long history in the US, but it's come to bite us in a big way, particularly in the massive drawdown of military resources before World War II; isolationism didn't keep us out of the war, but it delayed how swiftly we could respond with forces capable of taking a sustained fight to the Axis powers.

Ahmadinejad Doesn't Fail To Deliver The Crazy At UN General Assembly...AgainT

You have to hand it to Iran's Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. He certainly knows how to get his anti-Semitic trooferism on. He's nothing if not predictable in his insane rhetoric.

Last year he gave quite the rant, and the US and other delegations walked out in disgust.

Well, he reprised last year's speech, carrying on with the same themes. And the US and other delegations again walked out in disgust.

Ahmadinejad told the U.N. audience that the United States used "the mysterious September 11 incident" as a pretext for wars against Afghanistan and Iraq.

The Iranian president offered his criticism in the form of a series of questions, asking who had engaged in slavery, imposed colonialism, supported military regimes and triggered World War I, World War II, the Korean War and the Vietnam War.

'The answers are clear," Ahmadinejad said.

"By using their imperialistic media network which is under the influence of colonialism they threaten anyone who questions the Holocaust and the September 11 event with sanctions and military actions," he said.

More than a dozen diplomats from other countries, including France, left the chamber soon after the U.S. delegation departed.

Mark Kornblau, spokesman for the U.S. Mission to the United Nations, said: "Mr. Ahmadinejad had a chance to address his own people's aspirations for freedom and dignity, but instead he again turned to abhorrent anti-Semitic slurs and despicable conspiracy theories."

Ahmadinejad accused some unidentified European countries of still using the Holocaust "as the excuse to pay fine or ransom to the Zionists." He also said any question about the foundation of Zionism is condemned by the U.S. "as an unforgivable sin."

When the idea of an independent fact-finding investigation of "the hidden elements" involved in the Sept. 11 attacks was raised last year, he said, "My country and myself came under pressure and threat by the government of the United States."

Note too that Iran has no problem engaging in all kinds of chicanery to remain in power - using force to thwart opposition protesters from having a peaceful voice and exporting terrorism to all corners of the Middle East but against Israel in particular.

It has bought power and proxy armies in the form of Hizbullah and in Syria and Lebanon. Iran seeks to expand its power into Iraq, and looks to counter Saudi Arabia and other Sunni-majority countries in the region.

But it is with the United States and Israel that he doesn't hold back with his craziness. It's nothing we haven't seen before, but it's again a stark reminder of what Israel is up against and why Israel lacks a partner for peace in the Palestinians and other neighboring countries (Lebanon and Syria).

White House Releases President Obama's Long Form Birth Certificate

The White House, in a surprise move, has released President Barack Obama's long form birth certificate, and while it should normally mark the end of this sad chapter in idiocy from those opposed to all things Obama, it wont.

There will not be enough evidence to convince people opposed to Obama that he meets the constitutional requirements to be President - namely that he's a US citizen.

UPDATE:
Not much new information here folks. The PDF shows that his mother was born in Wichita, Kansas and was 18 years old when she gave birth to Barack at Kapiolani Materinity & Gynecological Hospital at 7:24PM on August 4, 1961.

Jerry Seinfeld Spurns Donald Trump Over Birther Comments

Donald Trump has been making the rounds touting his claims that President Obama isn't legally qualified to be President because he was somehow not born in the United States or that his mother isn't an American citizen.

Well, Trump's comments didn't sit well with Jerry Seinfeld who was scheduled to attend a fundraiser for St. Jude's Childrens Hospital and a Trump charity. Trump slammed Seinfeld for backing out, but I think Trump's the one who really needs to apologize for his asinine push to bring birtherism into the mainstream.

Donald Trump wasn't laughing when funnyman Jerry Seinfeld canceled an upcoming appearance at a benefit for his son's Eric Trump Foundation.

Seinfeld pulled out of the Sept. 13 event benefiting the St. Jude Children's Research Hospital because he disagrees with The Donald's questioning of Barack Obama's citizenship, his reps said.

"I just learned you canceled a show for my son's charity," Trump fired off in a scorching letter to Seinfeld yesterday, "because of the fact that I am being very aggressive with respect to President Obama, who is doing an absolutely terrible job as our leader."

Trump is doing a whole lot more than complaining about President Obama. He's questioning his qualifications for being President by questioning whether he is legally qualified. That's a huge difference.

Before the election in 2008, I questioned whether Obama had the character and judgment to be President based on his thin experience and lacking resume. People like Orly Taitz spread the nonsense that Obama wasn't born in Hawaii or was somehow not a US citizen eligible to be President. That conspiracy has now fully taken hold among the right wing and the GOP mainstream to such an extent that it is exceedingly troubling and will cause lasting damage to the GOP. Trump is now expanding and compounding that damage.

Five Alaska Militia Members Arrested in Plot to Murder Judge, State Troopers

Five members of a sovereign citizen right wing militia group were arrested yesterday in Alaska over a plot to murder state judges and law enforcement. The five are led by Francis “Schaeffer” Cox, who has had numerous run-ins with law enforcement in the past couple of years.

Francis “Schaeffer” Cox, Lonnie Vernon, Karen Vernon, Coleman Barney and Michael Anderson are accused of conspiring to commit murder, kidnapping, and arson, as well as weapons misconduct, hindering prosecution and tampering with evidence, according to trooper spokeswoman Megan Peters in a written statement late Thursday.

An investigation “revealed extensive plans to kidnap or kill Alaska state troopers and a Fairbanks judge,” the statement said. The plans included “extensive surveillance” on the homes of two Fairbanks troopers, the statement said.

“Investigation also revealed that extensive surveillance on troopers in the Fairbanks area had occurred, specifically on the locations of the homes for two Alaska state troopers,” the statement said. “Furthermore, Cox et. al. had acquired a large cache of weapons in order to carry out attacks against their targeted victims. Some of the weapons known to be in the cache are prohibited by state or federal law.”

U.S. Attorney Karen Loeffler said Lonnie Vernon, 55, was arrested for threatening to kill a federal judge. She said more information about federal charges would be released today Fairbanks Police Chief Loren Zager said the operation involved multiple police actions related to Fairbanks-area members of the “sovereign citizen” movement.

Cox isn't playing with a full deck as he dabbles in conspiracy theories that would give rise to the UN controlling the US and that the US and state governments are illegitimate and have been since actions taken by President Lincoln dissolved the US Constitution and reformed the government. He thinks that going to prison will give him the opportunity to recruit more to his cause.



Moreover, doesn't consider the courts to have any jurisdiction over him either:

If you've been following the ongoing matter of the misdemeanor weapons misconduct charges against Fairbanks militia leader Schaeffer Cox since hearings began this month, you know it has been unusual. The Fairbanks Daily News-Miner reported that at a recent hearing, Cox argued on his own behalf that Alaska's court system is a for-profit corporation and has no authority over him because he is a "sovereign citizen." He also presented District Judge Patrick Hammers with "criminal papers" and a restraining order issued by "a de jure" court. After the hearing Cox told the News-Miner he's not concerned about jail time: “Worst case, I go to jail for 30 days and educate all the prisoners and leave a screaming bee hive behind me." Also after the hearing, Cox told a trooper that militia members have the Alaska State Troopers "outmanned and outgunned" and "could probably have [them] all dead in one night." Read much, much more from the News-Miner's Dec. 15 report, here.

This guy believes that Lincoln replaced the US Constitution with one that incorporated the US:

Cox claims he and all Americans are sovereigns, or kings and queens, and no one is required to obey laws unless not doing so would directly harm other sovereigns. Much of his claims center around the belief President Lincoln subverted the original Constitution and replaced it with a copy that incorporated the United States. Over the summer, the Southern Poverty Law Center released a report estimating that as many 300,000 Americans consider themselves sovereign citizens. The movement has grown with the poor economy, the growth of the Internet and the election of President Obama.

Cox believes the federal government will fail soon and a de jure — or legally established — republic will be at the ready to replace it. Cox also claims to be the chairman of the joint chiefs of staff in the de jure republic.

The dubiousness of these kinds of claims makes you want to
*double facepalm* - when one simply wont do. Yet,there is a small but notable group of people who are pushing these kinds of claims, and they're armed and willing to act on their distorted worldview.

This guy is a loony bin of crazy:

Cox, a carpenter by trade, leads a group called the Second Amendment Task Force. Its website features combat footage from Afghanistan alongside videos detailing a United Nations-orchestrated plot to deprive Americans of their constitutional right to bear arms. Earlier this year, Cox founded a second organization, the Fairbanks-based Alaska Peacemakers Militia. Its members pledge to keep “thugs” from doing “stupid, lawless stuff” in the event of a natural disaster or the collapse of civil society. They also warn of dire consequences if the federal government crosses a rather loosely defined “line in the sand.”

Trooferism Madness Overruns Fox News; Right Wing Silent

Fox News has become little more than an outlet for Alex Jones and his conspiracy theories about the 9/11 attacks. Major figures on the network seem to have no problem issuing asinine statements about how the federal government was somehow in on the 9/11 attacks.

The latest to jump on board the crazy train is Andrew Napolitano, who was a former federal judge and has been a Fox News legal consultant. There are few things that get under my skin, but trooferism is one (having been in Lower Manhattan on 9/11 and walking through the dust cloud later that day to get out of Manhattan). Napolitano is a frakking ass who is an ignorant slut - and is more than willing to shill for conspiracy theorists in pursuit of his own agenda.



For years, the right wing would go after Loose Change and the 9/11 Truther conspiracy mongers as treasonous bastards. Now, Fox News is the loudest shill for these asinine theories that disrespect the memories of the nearly 3,000 people who were murdered in the attacks.

I'd say that Fox News should be ashamed to associate with this nonsense, but they feel no shame. We're now in a situation where Fox has no problem being on the same page as Jones' Prison Planet and the Loose Change nuts. They aren't pushing news - they're substituting their own fantasies on cable television so as to reach the widest audience possible.

These assholes disrespect the memories of the nearly 3,000 people who were murdered on 9/11 and do so in pursuit of a political agenda that does not comport with reality - or the facts.

Where are those on the principled right to stand up against this nonsense and demand an end to Fox peddling this crap on their network? After all, Glenn Beck has repeatedly said that troofers were disturbed individuals. Is Beck going to stand up against this madness or is he going to simply ignore it? I'm betting on ignoring it.

The network is too busy peddling its brand of crazy to care.

Ahmadinejad Rallies in Lebanon And Engages In Troofer Talk

Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is busy trying to spread Iranian influence throughout the Middle East and he's stopped in Lebanon to help prop up their proxy army Hizbullah. He's also busy capitalizing on the ongoing fascination with conspiracy theories - particularly when it comes to the 9/11 attacks in the US.

Ahmadinejad announced that Iran is creating a panel to prove US behind the 9/11 attacks.

He's capitalizing on the alternative reality movement that remains pervasive in the Middle East and beyond, where people think that the 9/11 attacks were done by the US to expand its influence overseas in any number of areas. Ahmadinejad only manages to tell the truth by accident - and regularly engages in all kinds of conspiracy theorizing and revisionist history, especially when it comes to the US or Israel.

There's no word on whether Alex Jones, the troofer conspiracy-monger has accepted a position. After all, Jones has done more to spread 9/11 conspiracy nonsense in the US than anyone else, and he uses his online presence to spread the crazy.

Ahmadinejad Gets His Rant On At General Assembly Opening Session

It's that time of year when dictators and despots step up to the microphone at the United Nations opening session of the General Assembly. For the past couple of years, Iran's thug-in-charge, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has gotten up in front of the audience and ranted and raved about how the Israelis dominate the world organization, attacked US policy, and this year he didn't disappoint.

In fact, he decided to throw in a bit of 9/11 Trooferism, claiming that the US was behind the 9/11 attacks. To Ahmadinejad, the attacks were the result of the US and Israelis pulling strings and orchestrating the attacks. Apparently, Ahmadinejad and Alex Jones have shared a few thoughts - or at least are familiar with the craziness each espouses on a regular basis.

He knows that this kind of insanity plays well at home and among the Arab World. That's his audience, and he's trying to use it to his advantage.

Nick Clegg, the deputy Prime Minister of the UK, will spend some time today denouncing Ahmadinejad. Others denouncing Ahmadinejad including the head of the EU, who took him to task for his 9/11 claims.

It's good to see other world leaders take the time to denounce Ahmadinejad and his asinine claims, but the UN isn't exactly moving ahead in any serious way to prevent Iran from obtaining nuclear weapons.

That's the crux of the matter when it comes to Ahmadinejad and Iran. Ahamdinejad's rants are a symptom of a more serious problem - he's intent on expanding Iran's influence in the region and the world. Iran's nuclear program isn't a civilian project, and the secrecy shrouding its enrichment program are signs of a much larger and more dangerous program to build a nuclear weapons infrastructure. A regime with the genocidal rhetoric that Iran restates on a regular basis - particularly towards Israel - when combined with the means to carry out such threats - is a dangerous combination that must be prevented. That's the challenge that the UN faces.

And Ahmadinejad knows that. That's why another phase of his statements related to the inner workings of the UN and how the Security Council can trump the General Assembly. He wants to eliminate the Security Council's ability to implement policies without General Assembly support or approval and to eliminate the veto power of the Permanent Five members. It's a move that more than a few countries in the General Assembly would support, and it's all part of Ahmadinejad's strategy to expand its influence.

Conspiracy Theorist Orly Taitz Sanction-Slammed By Supreme Court

The US Supreme Court affirmed a $20,000 sanction against conspiracy kook Orly Taitz.

The Supreme Court has upheld a $20,000 fine against a leader of the movement challenging President Barack Obama's citizenship.

The high court on Monday refused to block a federal judge's October 2009 ruling that required California lawyer and dentist Orly Taitz to pay the $20,000 fine for filing a "frivolous" litigation. The judge said Taitz attempted to misuse the federal courts to push a political agenda.

Taitz sued in Georgia federal court on behalf of Army Capt. Connie Rhodes. Rhodes sought to avoid deployment to Iraq by claiming Obama wasn't born in the United States.

She repeatedly ignores court rules and guidelines for filings, repeatedly files suit on trying to claim that President Obama isn't a lawful citizen and therefore cannot be President of the US. I'd say that the $20,000 fine isn't sufficiently high enough.

All the while, the California Bar continues its investigation into whether Taitz should be disbarred (her case is pending).

She previously stated that she'd pay the fine if the court rules against her. Well, isn't that nice.

She's an absolute disgrace to the legal profession, and this is a frivolous lawsuit that isn't based in reality.

Nutter Rant of the Day

This conspiracy nonsense ranks up there with the inane rantings that President Bush conspired to kill the black folks on the Gulf Coast after Hurricane Katrina or that he blew up the levees around New Orleans.

A GOP candidate for Congress in North Carolina claims that BP and the Obama Administration conspired to intentionally destroy the oil well and create the massive oil spill that now threatens much of the Gulf Coast. The idiot's name is William "Bill" Randall.

Randall, who has aligned himself with the Tea Party movement, readily admits that he has no evidence that what he says is true. But that is not stopping him from making the claim as he campaigns for in the June 22 GOP runoff to face incumbent Democratic Rep. Brad Miller on the November ballot.

"Now, I'm not necessarily a conspiracy person, but I don't think enough investigation has been done on this," Randall said at a media conference on Tuesday. "Someone needs to be digging into that situation. Personally, and this is purely speculative on my part and not based on any fact, but personally I feel there is a possibility that there was some sort of collusion. I don't know how or why, but in that situation, if you have someone from a company proposing to violate the safety process and the government signing off on it, excuse me, maybe they wanted it to leak.

"But then it got beyond what was anticipated, and we had an explosion and loss of life. And, oh man, now we have panic. Is there a cover up going on? I'm not saying there necessarily is. But I think there's enough facts on the table for people that (they) really need to do some investigative research and find out what went on with that and get a subpoena of records and everything else."

Here's the video:



Maybe they wanted it to leak? Are you frakking kidding me? They as in the Obama Administration and BP? Really? Drink the kool aid.

The Latest Troofer: Mahmoud Ahmadinejad

You just had to know that Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, who at various times has engaged in Holocaust denial and simultaneously calling for Iran to finish the job started by the Nazis, would be a troofer.

He's busy claiming that the US fabricated the 9/11 attacks to justify the US war on terror.

That's right. Let's just ignore the 1993 WTC bombing. The USS Cole attack. The embassy bombings in Africa and decades of calls for jihad by al Qaeda and even the Iranian mad mullahs.

Killer Pilot's Message Resonates Among the Lunatic Fringe

I noticed this yesterday as I had to delete several messages that considered the pilot in a deadly plane crash into the IRS offices in Austin, Texas, a hero. The lunatic fringe - both on the right and left think that Joe Stack is someone to be admired.

Walters was one of at least two dozen people who founded Facebook fan groups to hail the homicidal pilot.

Most had only a tiny handful of members, but hers attracted more than 200 before Facebook removed it.

"His sacrifice was for all of us," wrote Texan Tyler Britten.

Crackpots were also praising the dead pilot on Twitter.

"Joe Stack, you are a true American Hero and we need more of you to make a stand," tweeted Greg Lenihan, an engineer in San Diego.

Stack's manifesto railed against Wall Street, the Catholic Church, the IRS and the failure to reform health care - a little something for everyone.

The right called him a socialist, and the left branded him a right-wing tea partyer.

The only pol Stack name-checked in his final rant was "recent presidential puppet" George W. Bush, though he called all politicians useless.

There are always members of a small lunatic fringe ready to embrace a domestic terrorist targeting the feds. Tim McVeigh, who blew up the Oklahoma City federal building in 1995, killing 168 people, many of them children, remains a hero in some disgruntled circles 10 years after his execution.

Rep. Lloyd Doggett (D-Austin) said it was outrageous that some Americans were praising Stack.

This was a cowardly act of domestic terrorism," he said, and Stack's rant "reflects the steadily increasing flow of 'the government is out to get me' paranoia."

On the other end of the crazy scale, Internet conspiracy theorists - including Austin radio host Alex Jones - were quick yesterday to declare that the plane crash was staged by the government "to demonize the tea party movement."

Are you kidding me? The guy burned down his own home before taking his plane and crashing it into the IRS offices because of longstanding tax issues he had with the IRS (among other sundry issues that he raised in his rambling manifesto).

The manifesto is a cipher, allowing pretty much anyone to read whatever they want into Stack's motives, depending on what they choose to highlight. Ignore the ending, and you can suggest the guy was an adherent to the Tea Party movement. Or, you could ignore that he railed against President Bush, the IRS, FAA, and other agencies and politicians, the medical profession, his current home in Austin, and many others.


He was an angry disturbed individual who had motive and intent to kill and directed his ire against the agency he deemed did the most damage to his life; the IRS.
Here's a near complete list of all those he railed again, including President Bush, IRS, FAA, GM, banks, Christians, etc. He destroyed his family in the process of crashing his plane into the IRS offices with the intent to murder as many people as he could. In fact, we're lucky that apparently there was only one other person killed besides Stack, and there were about a dozen injuries (several serious). It could have been so much worse.

Then we have Alex Jones latching on to this attack as a means to discredit the Tea Party movement. Alex Jones has never met a conspiracy theory he didn't promulgate, spread, or metastasize into something far more sinister. What's so troubling about Jones is that far too many people on the right appeal to this guy, go on his show, or include him in their writings as a legitimate source. He's a loon with a big microphone.

Stack is the latest perpetrator in a long line of anti-IRS/anti-tax violence and the hatred crosses party lines. In Stack's case, he appears to have had multiple run-ins with IRS and tax officials, blaming them for business failures, loss of income, and having to relocate to Texas from California. He takes no personal responsibility for these situations or that he may have failed to properly report income or know the totality of his financial situation.

Better Late Than Never

Redstate, which is one of the largest right-leaning websites online and has a large blogging community, is finally getting serious about cracking down on the crackpots that infest the site.

We’ve always banned truthers at RedState. Increasingly, we have also banned a number of individuals who think Barack Obama is disqualified from being President because despite the Republican Governor of Hawaii confirming the legitimacy of the Democratic President’s birth origin as a citizen of the United States these birthers (”birfers” because it sounds as crazy as they are) refuse to move on.

Today I want to reaffirm and make it more definitive. If you think 9/11 was an inside job or you really want to debate whether or not Barack Obama is an American citizen eligible to be President, RedState is not a place for you.

Birfers and Truthers are not welcome here. Period. End of Story.

They should never have been accepted there in the first place. End of story. Crackpots do not need a wider forum in which to spread their malicious lies and conspiracies. Moreover, the Tea Party movement is also thoroughly infested with conspiracy theorists and whatever positive actions may come from a grassroots outpouring of anger over excessive government spending is tarnished by the fact that those running the movement are pushing various conspiracy theories, and are busy cavorting with conspiracy theorists like Alex Jones.

Lou Dobbs To Run For US Senate In New Jersey?

A New York Post report indicates that Lou Dobbs, who just left CNN after spending his entire career at the cable news network, may be contemplating a run for the US Senate in New Jersey.

For years, Dobbs has dogged rumors that he was eyeing a political career. But with the conservative Gov.-elect Chris Christie poised to take control in Trenton, many Jersey political watchers feel the timing could be right for Dobbs, a self-described "Rockefeller Republican."

"This is something that has been talked about, particularly for 2012 against Senator [Robert] Menendez," said Brigid Harrison, a political science professor with Montclair State in New Jersey.

The ex-CNN anchor has two key advantages that would make him a particularly attractive candidate.

As host of a highly rated national show, Dobbs would start any race with higher-than-average name recognition.

In addition, because of his national prominence, he'd also likely be an effective fund-raiser.

Dobbs switched his party affiliation in 2006 from Republican to independent, but his views on a number of issues -- most notably for tougher border control -- have endeared him to many conservatives.

He certainly has the name recognition, but does he have the policy positions that people would support? I'm not sure of that, and I think that once people understand that he's a birther - someone who thinks that President Barack Obama isn't a US citizen qualified to be President under the US Constitution, and I think that he wouldn't be a good fit. In fact, it may be Dobbs' support for the birther conspiracy nonsense that sent CNN boss Joe Klein to give Dobbs an ultimatum - quit the nonsense on his network or quit the network. Dobbs chose to quit the network.

I would not support Dobbs on that basis, and it isn't healthy for the GOP to do so either. The GOP has seen a resurgence in New Jersey because their standard bearer, Chris Christie is a moderate who isn't pushing nonsensical conspiracy theories.

That isn't to say that Republicans might not embrace him in any event, as an outsider and someone who is independently wealthy to take on current Democrats Bob Menendez or Frank Lautenberg.

Moreover, Dobbs' position on immigration would be out of line with the liberal politics of New Jersey, which has a significant immigrant population. It is interesting that Menendez took a cheap shot at Dobbs leaving CNN by claiming that his departure was addition by subtraction, when anyone objectively looking at CNN would know that the network is in serious trouble and Dobbs was among the more watched shows on the network. In fact it's in the rear view mirror of the other news networks, and is falling behind the Travel Channel; a situation that isn't easily reversible.

For Menendez to take that kind of shot shows the allure of Dobbs running for the Senate; the Democrats know that they'd be in for a real fight. I just think it would be a real bad move on the GOP's part to embrace someone who clearly espouses conspiracy theories that are unsupportable by the facts. It's something that his Democrat opponents will latch on to and attack relentlessly because it's unsupportable; the race will not be about the issues, but about Dobbs' character and fitness for the job.

That should send warning signs to the state GOP.

It is possible that Dobbs could make a third party run, which would likely split the vote and make predicting the outcome of a race exceedingly difficult at such an early stage.

Van Jones Quits Amid Controversy

Good riddance to bad rubbish. I have little doubt that Van Jones' 9/11 troofer angle contributed heavily to his quitting from the post, but it was his crank science links and radical left positions that were truly troublesome, even as they fit in with the Administration's overall outlook perfectly.<

Mr. Jones issued an apology on Thursday. When asked the next day whether Mr. Obama still had confidence in him, White House press secretary Robert Gibbs said only that Mr. Jones "continues to work in the administration."

The matter surfaced after news reports of a derogatory comment Mr. Jones made in the past about Republicans, and separately, of Mr. Jones's name appearing on a petition connected to the events surrounding 2001 attacks on the World Trade Center in New York and the Pentagon.

That 2004 petition had asked for congressional hearings and other investigations into whether high-level government officers had allowed the attacks to occur.

The reports of his resignation generally focus on the 9/11 troofer petition, and that he once made derogatory comments about Republicans, but ignore his links to the Communist Party and crank science links. It also ignores the fact that he was a supporter of cop killer Mumia Abu Jamal, who organized marches to demand his release.

The Rhetorican also tracks Jones' resignation.

It is entertaining to see Jones bail (or be pushed) on a holiday weekend to minimize news coverage and get outside the news cycle. At least the Administration did that part right.

UPDATE:
Don Surber notes that Powerline Blog found statements Jones made just days after 9/11 blaming the US for the terror attacks. I don't think they are proof of trooferism, but are typical of the leftist thought that blames the US for all evil in the world.

The Troof Behind the Van Jones Story

President Barack Obama selected a guy named Van Jones to head up his green policies. He's your typical lefty, but then came word that he may have associated with the 9/11 troofer movement - he's a conspiracy monger who was pushing that the government was behind the 9/11 terror attacks.

Jones was forced to respond yesterday, and he issued a too cute by half denunciation of the statement. He says that he didn't review the statement he was signing closely enough.

Now, there is additional evidence that he was involved in planning a march in San Francisco. That site claims that Jones was an organizing member of a march to demand the truth as to what happened on 9/11. It was populated with all your typical leftist groups, and anti-war groups that had sprung up to protest the war in Afghanistan (from where al Qaeda sprung and plotted the terror attacks). Jones also worked on an underground anti-war publication.

Also, Ben Smith contacted other people named in the 9/11 Troofer statement, and while they said that they signed something that was more narrow than what finally appeared on the Troofer site, it generally matched their preferences for a government-involved conspiracy.

He does not know how his name came to be on the petition. Okay then. It's nice that he's denying that he is now not a troofer, and that he was never a troofer, but how'd that name get on there in the first place.

The problem isn't that he's a troofer, which I find absolutely repugnant, but that he's not into details - like reading comprehension. It's a damning indictment of his inability to pay close attention to detail - a key character trait for someone who is supposed to be helping switch the economy over to something that is more environmentally sustainable (taking his assumed position in government on the most favorable terms).


This also goes to his ability to read for comprehension and understanding what he's doing. If you assume that he didn't know what he was signing, then it's a damning argument against his character and judgment. If you assume that he knew what he was signing and that he signed it anyways, that too is a damning indictment of his character and judgment.

We have tax cheats confirmed by Congress to head the Treasury. We have all manner of corruptocrat in Congress and the Administration. This guy's a weasel. He might even be a closet troofer. Why shouldn't he be in this Administration? He fits in perfectly with this Administration and the Democrats in general. After all, multiple polls have found that a significant portion believe in a 9/11 conspiracy. So, Jones' position isn't that far out of mainstream Democrat party thought. His philosophy fits in perfectly with the Administration, and Obama has filled other slots with tax cheats. Trooferism isn't going to dissuade the President here.

Still, if President Obama is going to send Jones packing, he's going to do it today - on a Friday before a long weekend. What better way to send Van Jones under the bus?

UPDATE:
Jammie notes that Jones is a Mumia supporter. Why am I not surprised?

UPDATE:
Howard Zinn was one of the people contacted to see whether they had signed on to the troofer petition, and he said that the 9/11truth.org people lied to him and that the statements provided to him didn't go nearly as far as what the organization ended up releasing. Okay. If that's the case, why then is Zinn still associating with this organization if they misled him and distorted his position? Birds of a feather and all that.

It's an interesting sidebar to the matter at hand, that Van Jones, who also happens to be a self-declared Communist, has no place in the Administration because of his crank science connections and I have to believe that the Secret Service and FBI both made a stink about his support for cop killer Mumia Abu Jamal.

Jones is a serial conspiracy theorist - jumping from one to the next.