Tuesday, July 21, 2009

Darkness

I couldn't make the commute to attend last Friday's tea party event outside Congresswoman Giffords office at Pima & Swan, so I didn't get to see the "SUV Drivers for Giffords" or meet the lady holding the "Gabby = Death!" sign.

I won't trash Framer's parties, and I'll leave the tea party thing alone for now, but one group emerging from the dark recesses of kookville is the growing xenophobic conspiracy crowd regarding Obama's citizenship. Old news, yes, I am well aware this was resolved well before the election. Perhaps the most rigorous material online is Factcheck's thorough investigation. This should be over.

A non-trivial number of wackjobs have no interest in letting reality get in the way of their hatred of the "unamerakun arab muzlem turrest." Known as "The Birthers" (website), their numbers are growing. I kid the reader not, and ultimately this is problematic for the Republicans who want to be seen as something other than fatigue wearing hate sign waivers with swastikas in their basements. Wikipedia has more than you want about these characters, and what should be disturbing is the enabling of these dangerous elements on the part of Fox News and Talk Radio. Sean Hannity fueled the conspiracy by running a story about a soldier suing to avoid his tour of duty because Obama is not qualified to be president, but didn't bother to mention the allegation had been proven false, or that the whole thing was a scam. From the Wikipedia material:

But Hannity omitted key details that point to a scam by the soldier. ... Maj. Cook filed a request to serve the Commander-in-Chief in Afghanistan on May 8, well after Obama had assumed the presidency, but now, about two months later, is claiming that Obama is not qualified to be president. And instead of going through the administrative process to revoke his orders, which would seem to be a pro forma matter, he sued in federal court.

After the lawsuit was reported in the Columbus Ledger-Enquirer, the newspaper reported receiving "the highest volume of traffic ever by a single story in the history of ledger-enquirer.com, including written threats against the newspaper", with nearly half a million new readers and hundreds of e-mails. The threats prompted an increase in security around the courthouse where Cook's case was heard, as well as precautions being taken to protect the author of the newspaper's reports on the case. Executive Editor Ben Holden noted: "The chatter had the feel of a righteous cause – almost a religious cause – because some people hate this president."


Assessing a soul involves high altitude terrain. Clearly, some don't know that the first prerequisite is having one.

9 Comments:

Anonymous Scarlett Letter said...

It seems to me that the Internet is providing a platform for hatemongers.
I'm sure there has been hate spweing against our leaders since well before FDR (I remember horrible, hateful things my great-aunties said of him 2 decades after his death).
So while the internet is a great resource for sharing information, it's also a place for hate and discontent to greatly manifest itself.

7/21/2009 3:43 PM  
Blogger Liza said...

I wonder what kind of people would write something about another person's soul being "dark" and put it on a sign. A person they don't even know, no less.

I was standing in line at Frye's grocery store a couple of hours ago. I picked up one of the tabloids and read the headline to my husband. It was something about Sarah Palin.

The woman in front of us looked at me and said, "You better not say anything against my Sarah."

For one second I just looked at her, an overweight white haired lady, around 65, wearing cutoff blue sweatpants, and a white blouse with a huge stain. I kind of doubt she had lived the American Dream, or has much chance of it in the future.

If you look at these people one on one, if you look at their faces, if you listen to their ugly words, if you take them up on the fight they offer, then you might lose perspective. You might conclude that nothing really matters.

Because he is biracial, Obama understands what he is up against far better than those of us who are white.

He also understands that if you want to drive the train, you keep your eye on the rail.

The hatred is here to stay, and yes, the internet provides a means of dissemination that was non-existent in previous decades. It is the dark side of technology. It is also the price we pay for freedom of speech.

You cannot change those who would hate a person for the color of his skin, because he threatens their perceived white superiority. They eventually die and that is how they change. They cease to exist.

That is the sad reality of racism.

7/21/2009 5:14 PM  
Blogger The Navigator said...

The Republicans are really screwing up if they don't squash this virus before it spirals out of control. They need to pull a McCain and tell the nut job lady, "No mam."

Can you believe a room full of people booing and hissing when a US Congressman says the US President is a US citizen?!

You can bet your farm and ass that if Obama were white, we wouldn't be hearing this shit. THIS IS RACISM.

Speaking of media enablers, you can add Lou Dobbs to the list.

As Liza hints, the depravity and obscenity behind the statement about Obama's soul says a lot about the people making it.

At the other end of the spectrum, I think x4mr's closing lines about assessing a soul say a lot about him.

7/21/2009 7:41 PM  
Blogger Mariana said...

Unfortunately, some of those holding ugly signs were also holding small children.

7/21/2009 10:18 PM  
Blogger Liza said...

Mariana,
There were people who took their children to see black men hanging from trees.

That is where racist adults come from. No one, absolutely no one is born a racist.

7/22/2009 8:13 AM  
Anonymous Observer said...

The butt ugly innards of the Republican cesspool are exposing themselves, and what a lovely smell we've discovered.

The family values and responsibility party has taken hypocrisy into new territory. The party that impeached Clinton is okay with a guy who screwed the wife of a subordinate, hired her kid, fired her husband, and paid $96,000 to her family. Not only that, he's in the same religious cult as another Republican who abandons his post to fondle his mistress in Argentina. The party that likes Sarah Palin thinks Sotomayor might not be qualified. With dog shit in the White House, they quadruple the deficit. Now they howl about fiscal restraint. The list goes on.

I think it's great that ten white male Republicans are now calling for legislation about this citizenship hooey. May the party of hatred, stupidity, ignorance, adultery, fraud, and corruption succeed in its current efforts to re-brand itself.

Palin for President!
Limbaugh for VP!
Glenn Beck for Sec. State!
Bernie Madoff for Treasurer!
Ensign for AG!
Hannity for Sec. Education
Joe the Plumber for HHS!

7/22/2009 11:07 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

The Navigator is exactly right. This is pure racism and would not be happening if he were white.

Whereas there is no legitimate reason to adopt the "birther" position and
whereas the facts have been investigated, verified, and corroborating evidence cements its validity,

the position is solely based on racism and hatred of the president.

7/23/2009 12:54 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

I think we should have a national annulment of George Washington's presidency as he was not born in the United States. He was born in a British Colony!
Do you all recall the George also warned AGAINST the two party system?

If Obama credentials of birth are not in order, then the FBI/CIA/NSA/INS are all in big trouble as they have to vet a Senator prior to his them taking the oath. If Obama goes down so do 4 Agencies. Fat chance.
And for cryin-out-loud people now will believe anything you tell them. Especially the ditto heads in the GOP.
In the 2000 election Rush Bimbaugh had the whole nation believing that overseas ballots from the Armed Forces could not be counted because they were not post marked! We have not postmarked mail from the bush from soldiers since World War I !! Yet folks believed the story from the EIB network gods. Only because they creaated it.

7/25/2009 1:11 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

You are all so caught up in your own hatred that you can't even see the forest for the trees. Obama and his administration don't like any of us. How many of you have benefited from any of the bail outs? How many have gotten a job, or a better one?

As for factcheck.org, seriously, so some checking to see who runs the site and what they have to gain or lose by this birth certificate issue. It goes to the heart of an issue much bigger than anyone is talking about. We had a coup under Lincoln that basically negated our Constitution. Wilson made it worse with the Federal Reserve (which is not even a gov't entity) and the Bushes have just pushed us further into tyranny. Obama is a pawn of the same group that are running our oligarchy. Do some research and you'll see that it's true. We are all screwed and no one wants to look at the facts. Keep spewing venom...maybe it'll give you solace when they send the National Guard to enforce martial law.

8/07/2009 10:21 PM  

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