Republicans feud, and more birther nonsense.

It's not Tupac and Biggie, but we wil take it.

Man it didn't take long for Mr. Bad Hair to respond to George Will calling him a bloviating idiot with a low IQ.  Mr. Bad Hair has been dying to get in front of a television camera, but unfortunately for him, television producers are getting tired of his act. The man who wants to see Obama's birth certificate as bad as the rest of us wants to to see his hairdresser, can be pretty unpredictable. Producers know that. There is no telling what he will say once the cameras start rolling.

Still, I am sure that he is glad for twitter. He couldn't wait to get to his twitter account so that he could put a fellow wingnut on blast. He called George Will "dumb" and said that he is an "overrated commentator".  Of course he is right on both counts, but this is a classic case of the pot calling the kettle black.

Anyway, Mr. bad Hair can take heart in the fact that he is not alone with this birther obsession. There is actually a state in our union paying to investigate Obama's claim to having being born in America, and state officials in that state  are legitimizing the birther movement with their offensive outrageous behavior.

"In these harsh and bitter times when the air is thick with acrimony, we owe a vote of thanks to the state of Arizona for stepping into the spotlight to offer some light relief.

It’s a role for which the state seems well-suited. Arizona Republic columnist Laurie Roberts wrote, “We’ve long been the land of crackpottery and lunacy.”
Unfortunately, Arizona’s secretary of state, Ken Bennett, pulled the plug on his threat to keep Barack Obama’s name off the November ballot unless the president produced a birth certificate that satisfied Bennett’s high standards for such documents.

Never mind that this issue has long been put to rest in the mind of every rational American. Bennett perhaps began to have second thoughts when he found himself denounced by national news organizations as the tool of half-baked clowns and a legitimizer of lunatic leanings.
That’s not what you want on your resume if you’re planning, as Bennett apparently is, to run for governor in two years.

He finally did what any state official could do and asked Hawaii for a copy of Obama’s birth certificate. Hawaii complied, and his office quickly and quietly dropped its effort to prove that Obama was an illegal immigrant. Still undeterred was Joe Arpaio, the sheriff of Maricopa County. We outside the state can’t tell how good at law enforcement Arpaio is. The U.S. Department of Justice apparently doesn’t think he’s all that good because it is suing him. In any event, the limelight-loving lawman seems to spend an inordinate amount of time on issues outside his jurisdiction.

And one of those is — yes! — Obama’s birth certificate. Arpaio is also after Obama’s draft records, which would seem to be beside the point because, as president, Obama is commander in chief of the U.S. armed forces, including the state militias. It says so in the Constitution, although Arpaio might want to demand that the National Archives prove that its copy is not a forgery.
Crime and budget issues apparently not being pressing issues in Phoenix, Arpaio dispatched a deputy and an investigator to Hawaii. (Why two? “Security issues that I can’t get into,” Arpaio said cryptically.)

There, Arpaio said, his minions “were stonewalled.” However, Hawaiian officials — who have never struck me as a particularly devious bunch — said that the Arizonans met with the deputy director of health, the director being away, and a deputy attorney general and that they were provided with all the relevant documentation." [Source]

If there is anyone reading this post who happens to live in the state of Arizona, please leave a comment explaining to the rest of us why you are still there.

Happy Memorial Day everybody. Most people who read this blog know that I have a great deal of respect for Veterans and the men and women who are volunteering to serve this country in the military theater. I may not agree with our American policies that put our men and women (and innocent people in other countries) in harms way, but the men and women who are out there risking their life and limbs will always have my love and respect.   

 



  



       

Maybe Tara Wall can find Obama's birth certificate.

As Mitt Romney continues to formalize the Negro inclusion portion of his Etch A Sketch plan, he has settled on a Negro to be the face of the strategy. Her name is Tara Wall, and Tara believes that once Negroes realize that Flipper is an "economic genius", they will line up and vote for him over Obama

 "From a messaging standpoint, we need to be able to communicate and relate to these communities about how they are being impacted by Obama's policies. It's the right thing to do, and it's an important part of the process. It's not a ploy, it's not a tactic, it's part of who we are. We have to show up."

Tara, you have to do more than just "show up". In case you missed it, the republicans pretty much gave black folks their (rather narrow) butts to kiss during the republican primaries. You are assuming that black folks have short memories. They do not. This is why black folks haven't voted with the republican party for years. They remember stuff.

Finally, I see that Donald won't let this birther thing rest. He started up again last week, and this time he has even right wing mouthpiece, George Will, begging him to STFU. "Bloviating ignoramus"? Oh my! The man with the ugly haircut and huge ego will not like that one. Mr. Will even told Flipper to dump the Donald for fear of alienating normal sane people who might vote come November. I doubt that he will take his advice, though. Donald has a fundraiser in the works for Flipper, and Flipper has to restock his war chest.

"I do not understand the cost benefit here," Will said on the "This Week" roundtable. "The costs are clear. The benefit - what voter is gonna vote for him (Romney) because he is seen with Donald Trump? The cost of appearing with this bloviating ignoramus is obvious it seems to me."

"Donald Trump is redundant evidence that if your net worth is high enough, your IQ can be very low and you can still intrude into American politics," Will dded. "Again, I don't understand the benefit. What is Romney seeking?"

George, I know that you are a conservative, and you folks are not very bright, but how can you wonder what Mitt Romney "is seeking?" Here, let me help you: It's called M.O.N.E.Y.

 

"Incontinent Speeches", and those racist anonymous trolls.

I have been reading and hearing about these empty seats at Obama's kick- off in Ohio, recently. George Will had a snarky remark about O's ego and why there were empty seats at the event. Trudy Rubin wrote about it in her daily Romney Talking Points section, and wingnut radio hosts like Hugh Hewitt cant stop chirping about how his Oness is in trouble because of his poor start.

Anyway, I keep looking at that picture of Flipper's stadium debut, and I can't help but wonder what type of gas they put in the ventilation system in conservative homes. Whatever it is must have them seeing into some type of  parallel universe. Because, unless I am missing something, that bad boy is EMPTY!

Can you imagine if O had opened to a crowd like that?

The sad thing is that the national press is playing right along. I guess they will do anything to not appear to be in the tank for O. In sports we call this a make up call.

Still, if I was a wingnut I wouldn't start measuring the curtains at 1600 Pennsylvania, Avenue just yet. To stay with the sports metaphor: we are just in the first quarter. There is a lot of playing left to do.

Finally, I read an interesting article by Latoya Livingston and Kenneth Mallory from the online MMTC news letter.

They talk about something that we know all too well about on this blog, and what drives it.*

"It happens all too often: We read an interesting article and feel compelled to add our two cents about the topic, so we scroll down to the comments section only to be faced with a barrage of hate. Arguably, most people who write articles would love for their work to be a catalyst for discussion and learning. Unfortunately, many journalists have found the opposite, their words being a springboard for racists and Internet trolls to graffiti their work with odium.

According to digital scholar Vint Cerf, "The Internet is a reflection of our society and that mirror is going to be reflecting what we see. If we do not like what we see in that mirror the problem is not to fix the mirror, we have to fix society." But is this true? Are the vile words of so many on the Internet true representations of American society? And what effect does that have on minority broadband adoption and their desire to allow access to this type of expression into their home?

Several online events seem to call into question Cerf's remarks by forcing many to ask whether the Internet can engender racism not seen during day to day "real world" interactions.

Many have expressed outrage and shock at what they contend are racist comments made online regarding minorities portrayed in and producing popular media. These expressions of hate, from tweets to comments, which would never have been voiced in public or "mixed-company," thrive on the Internet"..[More]

Yes, "But if a tree falls in the forest, and no one is around to hear it, did it really make a sound?" Look, I know they are out there, but I actually think that the racist and ignorant among us do more damage in the real world than they do on the Internet.  

Now once they start acting on their Internet urges we might have a problem.

Still, at least the Internet lets us know that they are out there, and that things aren't always what they seem. 

* Pic from MMTC Broadband&SocialJustice.org