Ron Paul Derangement Syndrome Watch Topic: Newsmax
Last week was a good week for the so-called “constitutional wing” of the Republican Party, those indomitable Ron Paul people. Sure, the next presidential election is a long way off but a recent snapshot taken by pollsters shows a surprising opening for the Texas congressman, the man who says that the Federal Reserve should be audited.
The general public is moving toward Ron Paul, even if most of them don’t even know who he is.
[...]
The country is ready. The man who pulled an upset to win the straw poll at CPAC, need only pull another one at the Iowa Cavalcade, 15 months from now, to be thrust into national prominence. The people are ready for some accountability. But the Wall Street bankers and establishment leaders in the Boston-New York-Washington corridor are watching.
The Ron Paul CPAC victory sent shock waves through their ranks. Don’t expect to see or hear about the Ron Paul revolution on the television news. The people who stand to lose from accountability are not about to help his cause.
[...]
He is right on the issues. And he has hardly changed his positions in a lifetime of public service. This gives him an immeasurable advantage over Obama and Palin. The country is moving to him, not the other way around.
And Ron Paul has one other ally: “Events.” Day by day, month by month, events are working, side by side, with Ron Paul, to prove him right and send his political star rising into orbit.
Janet Porter, Unrepentant Hater and Fearmonger Topic: WorldNetDaily
Janet Porter ratchets up the hate and fearmongering in her April 6 WorldNetDaily column:
Be warned: The government that already controls access to the care you need to save your life has as its next target, already in its sites, the power to control your home's heat and your freedom to travel – all under the coldest "global warming" threat ever manufactured.
After that, be looking for a food shortage – another crisis you can rest assured Obama won't let go to waste. What happens when the government steps in to "rescue" the food industry? I would suggest you ask the survivors of such occurrences in Russia and Germany, but most all of them aren't around, of course. They were starved to death.
In World War II, we faced the National Socialist Party in Germany. Now we face it at home.
Porter again promotes her May 1 rally " to repent of our many sins, which have brought us to this point. " Porter still has not indicated whether she will, at this event or any other occasion, repent for the barrage of lies and hate she has become known for.
The headline at the top of Newsmax's "Newsfront" section on April 6 looked strangely familiar:
It turns out we had seen it before:
Not only did Newsmax steal a headline from Drudge, the headline itself is false. As the Associated Press article to which Newsmax links explains (which carries the accurate headline "U.S. Unveiling New, More Restrictive Nuclear Policy"), Obama would permit the use of nuclear weapons in certain situations.
Note to Newsmax: If you're going to steal someone else's headline, make sure the headline is accurate.
UPDATE: Newsmax doubles down on the lie by making Drudge's false headline its lead story:
WorldNetDaily managing editor David Kupelian appeared on Sean Hannity's April 5 "Great American Panel," during which he claimed, "We're looking at an attempted socialist coup d'etat in Washington, D.C."
An April 3 NewsBusters post by Anthony Kang takes the Depiction-Equals-Approval Fallacy approach to media criticism, claiming that network newscasts were issing "praise for the Obama administration's latest regulatory efforts" on new federal fuel efficiency standards. But the examples Kang claimed as evidence are weak:
A statement on the NBC Nightly News that "Environmentalists are hailing the move as nothing short of historic."
A person's quote that "This is sort of the first time that the United States government has stepped forward, to take the biggest single step forward to solving global warming," which Kang depicted as having "praised the new regulation."
Kang, by the way, appears to be a Media Research Center employee, where he also writes for the Business & Media Institute. Such specious "media research" means Kang fits right in.
Newsmax Edits Out Pat Boone's Smears of Obama Topic: Newsmax
In his April 3 WorldNetDaily column, Pat Boone expressed vitriolic hatred of both Muslims and Barack Obama:
Differing from virtually every previous U.S. president, Mr. Obama seems to accept the claims of the Palestinian leadership, even the violent Hamas and Hezbollah, that the land given by God and settled by Israelites 4,000 years ago now rightfully belongs, at least in large part, to random settlers who moved into the area only in the last 200 years. And though the Balfour Declaration and the United Nations – and most civilized society the world over – have acknowledged and verified Israel's claim to their historic homeland, this president is doing everything he can to pressure Israel's leaders to cave in to the demands of the Muslim settlers.
This man spent his childhood in Indonesia and lived as a Muslim. Right through his teens and his three college experiences, as he recounted in his autobiography, he sought out the companionship and mentoring of dissidents and even Marxist teachers. As he began his ascent in politics and "community organizing," he joined a liberal church whose angry leader, Jeremiah Wright, is still pastor emeritus. Obama says he became a Christian there, but he apparently never read the biblical history of the Jews and God's eternal commitment to them of the tiny land that includes Jerusalem, the Holy City He calls Mount Zion. And he seems unaware of God's declaration to the descendants of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob: "I will bless those that bless you – and I will curse those who curse you."
But when Boone's column appeared at Newsmax, it was in a severely truncated form.The second paragraph was removed entirely, and the first paragraph wasedited to remove specific references to Muslims and Hezbollah:
Differing from virtually every previous U.S. president, Mr. Obama seems to accept the claims of the Palestinian leadership, even the violent Hamas, that the land given by God and settled by Israelites thousands of years ago now rightfully belongs, at least in large part, to settlers who moved into the area only in the last 200 years. And though the Balfour Declaration and the United Nations — and most of civilized society the world over — have acknowledged and verified Israel’s claim to their historic homeland, this president is doing everything he can to pressure Israel’s leaders to cave in to the demands of the settlers.
Gone entirely, meanwhile, was the entire first section of the WND version of the column, a weird, incomprensible rant likening -- well, we don't quite know what he was getting at:
"Mrs. Obama, I'm Oskar Steinhaven, your next-door neighbor. We met once, when you and your husband were looking at this property, before you bought it. Remember? I told you my family and I were planning to buy this place. But somehow, you and Mr. Rezko made a deal for you to buy it, for less than I had already offered.
"You see, my family has lived in this area for over 80 years. We used to own all the land here, but our grandfather had to sell most of it in the Great Depression, keeping only our home next door. But our family has always felt this is still our land, and we've always intended to reclaim it. We were quite upset when you bought it and moved in, and then added another parcel to it. We tried to reason with Mr. Rezko, but he didn't listen or care about our heritage, our history on this very land.
"But then your husband was elected president, and whenever you come here, the place is swarming with Secret Service and other police; thousands of people drive by and gawk. We've had to just put up with it. In our neighborhood.
"And now, worst of all, you're planning to build other structures in the backyard – housing for security, a bomb shelter, huge satellite dishes, maybe even a guest house … who knows what else?
"We feel this is still our property, and we intend to have it again. You don't need it, and you keep adding things we don't want. We're seeking an injunction to prevent these additions.
"And one more thing. This is not a threat, just an observation. Our uncle Hermann was accused of running a Nazi camp; he told us it was a rest home for the elderly, the infirm, the undesirable. And we believe him. Yes, almost all of the people in his camp were Jews – but your husband gives us the impression he doesn't care much for those people or their precious Israel, so maybe we have that in common. But regardless, I'm just saying that, just as you found a way to buy this property, for less than its market value, we will find a way to reclaim it. It's ours, and we want it back."
Boone then added, by way of purported explanation:
The preceding is fiction, of course. But if it were true, how long do you think it would take President Obama to have this man dealt with, perhaps never to be heard from again? Do you think he or his wife would accept the man's claim, apologize, or stop their additions and maybe just deed the property over to him? No?
Well … that's what Mr. Obama seems determined to force on Israel.
Sorry, it still doesn't make sense. We can see why Newsmax cut it, demonstrating it has finally learned from its John L. Perry episode. So when will it demonstrate the final lesson by canceling for good the column by the hateful Pamela Geller?
WND Ignores Gary Kreep's PAC Scam Topic: WorldNetDaily
WorldNetDaily loves Gary Kreep -- after all he's a birther lawyer who hates President Obama. Which is exacly why you will not see WND report on the fund-raising scam that is Kreep's political action committee.
Kreep heads the Republican Majority Campaign, which claims to have a goal "to elect an enduring Republican majority that will leave to future generations a stronger and more prosperous America" -- and which works out of the offices of Kreep's United States Justice Foundation. A few weeks ago, TPM Muckraker reported that while the Republican Majority Campaign, spent nearly all of the $1.7 million it raked in from conservative donors last year, less than 2 percent of that money went toward supporting candidates or independent political spending. Much of the money went to a murky Arizona telemarketing firm that has been linked to questionable PAC activities in the past.The PAC's main activity is soliciting donations to send faxes to Washington, an activity a campaign funding expert quoted by TPM Muckraker describes as legitimate but virtually worthless.
Kreep himself raked in about $60,000 from the group in 2009 for provinding "legal services."
Unsurprisingly, WND has not told its readers about the scam-like nature of Kreep's PAC. Instead, in the past month WND has reportedon Kreep's latest birther-related activities and touted an ad attacking Sen. Harry Reid that Kreep's group issued. WND also promoted accusations by Kreep that allegations that two politicians were purportedly "offered jobs in return for dropping out of political races that challenge two U.S. Senate supporters of President Obama."
One more thing that WND won't mention in its role as Kreep's PR agent: Kreep and his USJF have previously represented WND in court, most notably in the Clark Jones lawsuit that WND ultimately settled out of court to avoid losing in the courtroom. Such non-disclosure is a violation of journalistic ethics that WND all too frequently engages in.
NewsBusters Runs to Erickson's Defense Topic: NewsBusters
Jeff Poor spent an April 2 NewsBusters post defending right-wing commentator Erick Erickson, who he claims is the victim of a "witch hunt" by "left-wingers." Poor complains that the Politico, in writing a story about Erickson, is "taking news tips from left-wing storefronts that have staked out RedState.com founder Erick Erickson's Macon, Ga. radio show on Newstalk 940 WMAC, to capture any sort of gotcha moment to embarrass Erickson. And all of this seems to have been spurred on by CNN's announcement last month that Erickson would be a network contributor."
The "left-wing storefront" term is a reference to Media Matters, which captured Erickson saying on his radio show saying that if a census worker demands that he fill out the long-form American Community Survey, he will "[p]ull out my wife's shotgun and see how that little ACS twerp likes being scared at the door." And the act of monitoring someone's radio show for "gotcha moments" is exactly how Poor's employer -- the Media Research Center, which is a right-wing storefront -- operates, so what is he complaining about?
Poor uncritically relayed Erickson's defense that his statement is being "misconstrued," though Poor doesn't explain exactly what is being misconstrued given the straightfoward clarity of Erickson's statement.
Poor also complained that the Politico "something of continuation of behavior" in Erickson's statement, "which Erickson has since apologized for on CNN's March 28 'Reliable Sources.'" Poor doesn't explain why anyone should take Erickson's apology for past statements (like calling retired Supreme Court Justice David Souter a "goat f***ing child molester") at face value, since 1) Erickson's continued employment by CNN likely hinged on the apology, and 2) Poor and his employer would never treat a similar apology from a liberal that way.
Poor then unsurprisingly launches into a double-standard complaint regarding liberal personalities. Of course, as an MRC employee Poor is pretty much the last person who should complain about double standards given the MRC's refusal to denounce the frequent anal sex references by Rush Limbaugh while criticizing others who make them.
WND Still Whitewashing Minutemen Extremism Topic: WorldNetDaily
WorldNetDaily has a longhistory of whitewashing the extremist aspects of anti-immigration border patrol groups like the Minutemen. It does so again in a March 23 article by Drew Zahn on the dissolution of one of those groups, the Minuteman Civil Defense Corps .
Zahn regurgitated the group's line that it was dissolving because it was "concerned that Americans have grown so angry over illegal immigration and border drug wars that violence may soon erupt." Zahn uncritically quotes group leader Carmen Mercer as saying, "This organization has grown too big for its own good; or rather, the problem has grown too big and serious for us to manage. I predict soon the violence will spill over the border (it already is) and I predict Americans, on their own, will lock, load and do what the feckless cowards in Washington refuse to do."
Zahn doesn't mention the fact that Mercer herself is responsible for encouraging some of that -- or that the backlash from it was a prime motivator for dissolving the MCDC.
As TPM Muckraker reported, Mercer sent out an email to MCDC members on March 16 -- a week before Zahn's article appeared -- in which she urged group members to come to the border "locked, loaded and ready." She added: "You are strongly encouraged to exercise your rights and duty as an American citizen to carry a long arm and if challenged use it to defend the United States of America." Acording to the Arizona Daily Star, Mercer "received a more feverish response than she expected and decided the group couldn't shoulder the responsibility and liability of what could occur.
Zahn should have known about Mercer's remarks in writing his story. If he didn't he's a bad reporter. If he did and he chose not to report them, he's a dishonest one. Either way, he's a perfect WND employee.
To atone for his radicalism, Rev. Wright ended his sermon with the ubiquitous three points: 1) You are not alone; 2) God is at work on your behalf; and 3) You have nothing to be afraid of.
But of course, dear reader, America has quite a lot to be afraid of due to the shameful complicity and political cover up the liberal media provided Obama and his mentors, like Frank Marshall Davis, Bill Ayers, Bernardine Dohrn and Jeremiah Wright. We did not so much vote for a candidate in November 2008, but America voted for a revolution, a revolutionary hell-bent on deconstructing all that is good, honorable and patriotic; a fascist seeking to destroy America from within so as to remake this wonderful country into his own Marxist image.
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If the Rev. Jeremiah Wright can proudly and repeatedly say, "God damn America" in a 2003 sermon while Barack and Michelle Obama likely sat applauding in the congregation, perhaps America will emphatically say, "God damn Barack Obama" in the presidential election of 2012.
For Sheppard, Anti-Obama Coverage Is 'Fair And Balanced' Topic: NewsBusters
Noel Sheppard wrote in an April 2 NewsBusters post that the Orlando Sentinel "marvelously offered a fair and balanced report" on Jack Cassell, a Florida doctor who has declared that he will not treat people who voted for Barack Obama. But later in his post, Sheppard called this "an anti-Obama news report."
The fact that Sheppard considers "anti-Obama" news reports to be "fair and balanced" says pretty much all youneed to know about the research methods of NewsBusters and the Media Research Center.
Cliff Kincaid's 'Homosexual Problem' Topic: Accuracy in Media
Cliff Kincaid ratchets up his already prodigious hatred of gays in an April 2 Accuracy In Media "AIM Report."
In a section rehashing his previous paranoia about the "gay infiltration of the conservative movement," Kincaid once again defended "the Christian-dominated government in Uganda," which is "trying to prevent the spread of AIDS and protect traditional moral values by toughening laws against homosexuality" -- a contention we've debunked. Kincaid bizarrely added: "Under these "gay conservatives," if in power, one can imagine gay soldiers being deployed to overthrow 'homophobic' regimes."
In another section of the report, Kincaid again railed against "the gay infiltration of CPAC," then writes:
GETTING BACK TO THE HOMOSEXUAL PROBLEM, HOWEVER, IT IS VERY WORTHWHILE TO point out that the eminent historian Paul Johnson has something very important to say about this. His book The Quest for God laments that Western society made a huge mistake by decriminalizing homosexuality and thinking that acceptance of the lifestyle on a basic level would satisfy its practitioners. Instead, he wrote, "Decriminalization made it possible for homosexuals to organize openly into a powerful lobby, and it thus became a mere platform from which further demands were launched." It became, he says, a "monster in our midst, powerful and clamoring, flexing its muscles, threatening, vengeful and vindictive towards anyone who challenges its outrageous claims, and bent on making fundamental-and to most of us horrifying-changes to civilized patterns of sexual behavior." Today, this monster makes even more demands and inroads, especially into our government, as President Obama appoints subversives such as homosexual activist Kevin Jennings to the Education Department, and some poor mixed-up "transgendered" person to a post at Commerce. Plus, adding to our health care problems, he has lifted the ban on AIDS-infected foreigners from traveling to and living in the U.S. His gays-in-the-military proposal would not only make the Armed Forces a laughingstock but would end its value as a fighting force capable of defending us against foreign threats. Indeed, a homosexualized military could itself become a threat.
It seems that as much as Kincaid denies that the proposed Uganda law would kill gays, he secretly likes the idea of such a solution to the "homosexual problem."
Kincaid concludes by invoking anti-gay hatemonger Scott Lively as a credible source on "how the Nazi party began as a private homosexual military force," suggesting the same thing will happen under the U.S. military if don't ask, don't tell is repealed. In fact, Lively's writing on gays and Nazis have been discredited; as Warren Throckmorton points out, it's an exercise in revisionism that takes "massive leaps of logic and fact ... to make National Socialism an invention of a cohesive homosexual plot."
The only one here with a "homosexual problem" is Kincaid.
Ralph Peters Rants Against A Non-Existent Threat Topic: Horowitz
Ralph Peters served up a special brand of crazy in an April 2 FrontPageMag article, ranting against giving "illegals" voting rights -- something nobody has proposed to do -- and illustrated with a picture of heavily tattooed gang members as an apparent illustration of the "illegals" who would purportedly be given those voting rights.
Keyes Tries to Decouple Citizenship, Eligibility Wings of Birtherism Topic: WorldNetDaily
Alan Keyes writes in his April 2 WorldNetDaily column:
Obama pairs those concerned that he is a socialist with others, who he says (speaking with purposely deceitful inaccuracy) "question whether he is a citizen." Yet when accurately stated and understood, the real issue is not whether he is a citizen, but whether, in accordance with the terms of the U.S. Constitution, he is or ever could be president of the United States.
Keyes thus joins his WND boss, JosephFarah, in deceitfully trying to change the language of birtherism by trying to decouple citizenship from eligibility. The problem, of course, is that claims that Obama is not an American citizen remain central to the issue, even in WND's own reporting.
It seems that by attempting to change the birther nomenclature Keyes, like Farah, is apparently conceding that Obama was born in the U.S.
Like Farah, Keyes has a little empire going, of which birtherism is a part -- on the front page of his Loyal to Liberty website, Keyes touts his appearance in WND's (falsehood-laden) birther video. Does Keyes have the integrity to tell the truth about what he truly believes, or will he hold back lest his empire get thrown into financial jeopardy?
In spite of all the mean, though true, things I say about Obama, I can't help feeling sorry for him. After all, his Kenyan father deserted him when he was just a baby. Then, because that had worked out so well, Obama's ditzy mother then married a Muslim and moved to Indonesia. Eventually, Obama and his mother were deserted by his stepfather, which led to Obama's mother dumping 10-year-old Obama on his white grandparents in Hawaii. It was there that young Barack took up basketball, marijuana and cocaine, while seeking out radicals, revolutionaries and Communists as pals and mentors.
The truth is, with that kind of dysfunctional background, Barack Obama could easily have turned out to be a serial killer. Still, one can't help thinking that if only he had, today he'd probably be in prison, instead of the Oval Office, and none of us would have to worry about what awful thing he's going to do next.
But if BHO truly has his mind set on establishing a dictatorship – and it is my personal belief that he does – it's too risky for him to wait for a runaway inflation as an excuse to call a state of emergency. He knows that as long as there is a semblance of a free market in place, producers will continue to push back against the economy-killing effects of his policies.
Thus, he needs another excuse to declare a state of emergency. In previous articles, I've mentioned a nuke exchange between Iran and Israel as one possibility. Another is civil unrest due to unemployment rates that could reach 25 percent or more in the not-too-distant future.
These and others still remain possibilities, but last week Glenn Beck came up with one that may be even more likely. Beck believes that Obama will continue to keep the accelerator pressed to the floor – amnesty for illegal immigrants, a cap-and-trade bill that will eliminate the U.S. as a global business competitor, and more – thus enraging an already angry public to the point of revolution.
In other words, purposely foment "civil unrest" rather than wait for something like unemployment or runaway inflation to make it happen. As Beck puts it, just continue to poke people in the eye, then use their predictable and justifiable backlash as an excuse to establish dictatorial powers.
I thought about this issue while attending the recent tea party outside the Capitol building in Washington. As I crossed Independence Avenue, I noted a somber-looking guard holding a Rambo-style weapon in his hands. I have no idea what it was, but there's no question in my mind that just one pull of the trigger could have rearranged the body parts of a large number of tea-party people.
[...]
Yep, I believe Glenn Beck might be on to something. But if the American public refuses to take the bait and doesn't resort to violence, BHO will have to go to Plan B to have an excuse to declare a state of emergency.
Having said all this, don't despair. No one, including myself, can predict the future with certainty. In a rapidly changing world, nothing is certain - which is why I don't make predictions; I just lay odds. And here are my odds based on what I know and see today:
The chances of a declared state of emergency and ensuing dictatorship prior to the 2010 elections: 25 percent
The chances of a declared state of emergency and ensuing dictatorship prior to the 2012 elections: 50 percent
The chances of the Republicans cutting back on major entitlements if they regain power in the 2010 elections: zero
The chances of the Republicans cutting back on major entitlements if they win the presidency and an overwhelming majority in Congress in 2012: 5 percent
Of course, I could be wrong about all this ... but what if I'm right?
