Romney makes birther joke at rally

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Trump: a frontman for hatred?

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Poll: Nearly half of New Hampshire Republicans are birthers, and many support Trump

By Stephen C. Webster

Donald Trump's play into the fictional world of birther politics seems to have paid tremendous dividends in New Hampshire, where a poll this week found that nearly half of likely Republican primary voters don't believe the president is a U.S. citizen.

With Trump pitching himself as the candidate of these so-called "birthers," he's engendered quite a bit of support.

The man who's applauded Nancy Pelosi, claimed to be pro-choice and openly said he's more of a Democrat than a Republican, was second among likely GOP candidates in the state and within single digits of the front-runner, former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney (R)

The results would seem to lend credence to critics who say some conservatives have voter "amnesia" and aren't quite sure of what they believe.

The state's overall approval rating of President Obama was 49 percent, according to the left-leaning Public Policy Polling. That number is actually over the national average last gaged at 42 percent by Quinnipiac University.

Even though President Obama has continued many of President George W. Bush's policies at home and abroad, just 13 percent of Republicans in the state said they approved of the job he's doing. A full 79 percent of New Hampshire Republicans said they opposed the president's agenda.

The poll also found that among "birthers" and tea party Republicans, Trump fared even better, even surpassing the hands-down front-runner Mitt Romney with the group that believes Obama wasn't born in the U.S.

The poll also found that 42 percent of likely primary voters in New Hampshire do not believe Obama is a citizen, and among them Trump tops Romney 22-21 percent. In the wider cross-section of Republicans, Romney leads with 27 percent to Trump's 21 percent.

President Obama still out-polls all the most likely Republican front-runners by double digits, despite his sinking fortunes of late.

Despite the beliefs of many "birthers," Obama is indeed a U.S. citizen. He turned over his birth certificate well before running for office and has since published it online and allowed reporters to view the original document.

Birther Donald Trump: I’m ‘Really Concerned’ That ‘Obama Was Not Born In This Country’

By Alex Seitz-Wald

Apparently deciding that his path to success in next year’s Republican primaries takes him through Birtherville, billionaire reality TV star Donald Trump has said he will make questioning “Barack Obama’s birth certificate a pivotal part of his bid.” Indeed, he used an appearance on Fox & Friends this morning to launch into a lengthy and passionate rant about how he is “really concerned” that “Obama was not born in this country.”

At the conclusion of the interview, Trump stated, “I’m starting to wonder myself whether he was born in this country.” Watch it:

The myth that President Obama was born anywhere else than where he says he was has been roundly and repeatedly debunked, so one must ignore entire swathes of reality to continue to believe it. For example, Trump wants Obama to present a Certificate of Live Birth, but here it is, widely available on the internet, as it has been for nearly three years.

Moreover, Trump’s argument isn’t even internally coherent. First he questions why no doctors or nurses in Hawaii remember Obama’s birth, noting “this is the president of the United States!” (It’s unclear if Trump believes Obama was born the president):

TRUMP: Hey look, you have no doctors that remember. You have no nurses — this is the president of the United States! — that remember. That ad that was placed in the Houston paper — that was placed in the paper days after he was born. So he could have come into the country.

But just moments later, Trump doubts the governor of Hawaii Neil Abercrombie’s recollection of Obama’s birth, noting it was over 50 years ago. Abercrombie has said, “I knew his mom and dad. I was here when he was born.” Trump called for the governor to be “be investigated” for lying about the memory:

TRUMP: You know what I get a kick out of? The governor of Hawaii says, oh I remember when Obama was born. I doubt it! I think this guy should be investigated. He remembers when Obama was born? Give me a break! He’s just trying to do something for his party.

Trump seems to be leading yet another resurgence of the myth that “refuses to die” on the right — talk radio host Rush Limbaugh has been increasingly focusing on the issue, and praised Trump for providing a “valuable service” by questioning it; on Friday, Fox News host Sean Hannity refused to believe that Obama had released his birth certificate; and potential 2012 candidates like Michele Bachmann and Mike Huckabee have been hitting the issue as well lately.

Truthers, birthers, and cowards: The week at Fox News

By Ben Dimiero

When Fox host and senior judicial analyst Andrew Napolitano appeared on "Conspiracy King" Alex Jones' radio show last week and announced that 9-11 "couldn't possibly have been done the way the government told us," he seemingly put his employer in a difficult position.

After all, for years Fox hosts and personalities have attacked anyone dabbling in 9-11 conspiracy theories as "Anti-American," "hurtful," "mentally ill," "idiots" that deserve to be "fired immediately."

By Fox News standards, you don't even have to personally espouse trutherism in order to be attacked. As evidenced by the network's attacks on Park51 Imam Feisal Abdul Rauf because he supposedly "Pals Around With Truthers," if you used to work with someone who later became a truther, you are a fair target for criticism (even if you yourself have emphatically stated that 9-11 was carried out by extremist Muslims.)

Before we discuss Fox News' astounding non-response to Napolitano's comments, it's important to point out that he is not just a random Fox contributor who pops up for occasional analysis -- Napolitano is undoubtedly a rising star at the network.

After several years as an analyst at Fox News, Napolitano was handed a weekend show earlier this year at the Fox News Junior Varsity team, more commonly known as Fox Business. His show -- which was exclusive to FoxNews.com before being bumped up to FBN -- was recently moved to the prime 8pm weekday slot on the network. Napolitano also continues to regularly appear on Fox News to provide input on a wide range of issues.

He has been the recipient of effusive praise from some of Fox's most prominent on-air personalities as well. When Justice David Souter announced he was retiring from the Supreme Court in 2009, Fox & Friends host Steve Doocy joked that he "would like to officially nominate" Napolitano for the position.

Earlier this year, Glenn Beck called Napolitano "one of the sharpest men I know" and told him that "if I were God of the Universe, you'd be my Supreme Court justice."

In a case of remarkably poor timing, the morning after Napolitano's appearance on Jones' radio show -- but before his offensive comments had come to light -- Beck announced on his radio show that Napolitano "used to" piss him off when Beck was "naïve and foolish" in 2002. Beck said that Napolitano has actually "turned out to be right on almost everything," is "one of the most decent men" he knows, and that if Beck "ever had to go to battle" and "needed people behind" him, Napolitano would be "one of the first" people Beck would call.

Beck apparently thinks so highly of Napolitano that he frequently lets Napolitano serve as his guest host when he takes days off.

While Beck reveres Napolitano, he absolutely loathes anyone even tangentially associated with the 9-11 Truth movement. Last year, Beck repeatedly attacked former White House adviser Van Jones after his name appeared on a 9-11 Truth petition (Jones has stated that he believes Al-Qaeda caused the attacks and that he was lied to about the petition, which was "something that I never saw and never signed onto"). Beck also called for an "investigation" of Imam Rauf over the fact that his former colleague eventually became a truther.

On the March 22, 2007, edition of his CNN Headline News program (accessed via Nexis), Beck spent a large portion of his show debunking 9-11 conspiracy theories with Michael Shermer of Skeptic magazine and James Meigs, the editor-in-chief of Popular Mechanics.

During the show, Beck called 9-11 conspiracy theorists "nut jobs," "idiots," "dangerous," "anarchists," "the kind of group that a Timothy McVeigh would come from," and "exactly the kind of people who want to rock this nation's foundation, tear us apart and plant the seeds of dissatisfaction in all of us." Teasing the segment, he said "could these nut jobs also pose a very real threat? You'd better believe it."

Well, what does Beck think of the fact that "one of the sharpest" men he knows -- the man he hands the keys of his show over to when he is on vacation -- has revealed himself as a dangerous nut job idiot who could pose a very real threat?

It's anyone's guess, because Beck hasn't said a word about it. (In Beck's defense, he has been busy this week making things up about the food safety bill. And net neutrality. And health care reform. And the Federal Reserve. And the Smithsonian. And Wikipedia. But I digress.)

Beck's cowardly silence about Napolitano is in keeping with the rest of his network. Despite criticism from 9-11 victims' families and even numerous conservatives, both Fox News and Napolitano have refused to address the controversy on-air or off.

And, for the record, Napolitano's promotion of 9-11 conspiracy theories on Jones' show was no accident -- he previously made similar remarks on a Tennessee radio show in May.

During a February 2009 appearance on Fox & Friends, Red Eye host Greg Gutfeld ranted against 9-11 conspiracy theorists and said, "People are too scared to confront 9-11 conspiracies because it's like the crazy guy on the subway. You don't want to make eye contact. But sooner or later you've gotta make eye contact and tell that guy to get lost." Apparently, when the "crazy guy on the subway" is actually your coworker, at no point do you have to "tell that guy to get lost."

As always, it seems like there is almost nothing a Fox employee can do to warrant getting reprimanded by the network. This entire episode confirms once and for all that loyalty to Fox News trumps all.

And, this being Fox News, Napolitano's trutherism was not the network's only foray into promoting conspiracy theories this week.

On Monday's edition of Fox & Friends, the crew hosted former Republican congressman and current NewsMax columnist John LeBoutillier to promote his book, The Obama Identity. During the segment, LeBoutillier pushed the idea that Obama was actually born in Kenya, without any forceful rebuttal by hosts Steve Doocy or Brian Kilmeade. Both LeBoutillier and the Fox & Friends crew tried to suggest that his "fiction" book may actually have basis in reality. The chyron during the segment was "Fact or Fiction? 'Obama Identity' a fictional tale of reality."

So what is this "fictional tale of reality" about? Well, it promotes numerous conspiracy theories about Obama, and, in the words of Media Matters' Oliver Willis, it not only reads like it was written "in the language of a hormonal teenager," but also apparently features President Obama's foreskin as a major plot device.

And who is John LeBoutillier? Well, before his current occupation as a professional peddler of insane and discredited conspiracy theories about President Obama, LeBoutillier spent the 90s pushingoutlandish conspiracies about then-President Clinton and his family -- including suggesting Clinton killed Deputy White House Counsel Vince Foster and had an account "in the Cayman Islands, which is a refuge for drug money."

As we documented, Fox's promotion of LeBoutillier's book and Napolitano's trutherism are in character for the network, which has increasingly become a welcoming place for conspiracy theorists.

Earlier this week, discussing Napolitano, Hot Air's Allahpundit asked, "Precisely how many of these people does Fox have on staff? Am I going to open a newspaper tomorrow and find out that Megyn Kelly or Julie Banderas thinks the Pentagon was hit by a missile?" Based on the network's steadfast refusal to comment on the story, it's impossible to answer that question -- to the serious detriment of people at Fox who care about their credibility.

What does it say about Fox hosts like Sean Hannity, Bill O'Reilly, Glenn Beck, Greta Van Susteren and Mike Huckabee -- many of whom have repeatedly and explicitly condemned truthers in the past -- that they are unwilling to speak out now that their coworker has revealed himself as one?

Are Fox's "news" anchors -- people like Chris Wallace, Bret Baier, and Megyn Kelly -- okay with the fact that their bosses refuse to condemn someone who promotes 9-11 conspiracy theories?

And how about Fox personalities like Sarah Palin, Newt Gingrich, Dick Morris, Michelle Malkin, and Laura Ingraham? Are they comfortable being employed by a network that refuses to condemn a truther employee and hosts people like John LeBoutillier to suggest the president was born in Kenya?

Based on their (apparently now discarded) standards, the entire Fox staff's association with a truther like Napolitano should make them a ripe target for criticism.

Is there anyone at Fox whose fealty to the network is outweighed by standards of decency?

Anyone?

Pat Robertson: Islam isn’t a religion; treat Muslims like fascists

By Daniel Tencer 'Birther' lawyer: Fort Hood proves soldiers should be allowed to disobey orders

Conservative commentators are ratcheting up anti-Muslim rhetoric in the wake of last week's Fort Hood massacre, with televangelist Pat Robertson leading the way with a declaration that Islam is "not a religion," but a "political system" bent on destroying all the world's governments.

In a commentary on his show, The 700 Club, Robertson noted that the alleged shooter in the Fort Hood massacre, Nidal Malik Hasan, had come to the attention of authorities prior to the rampage by emailing a radical cleric and trying to contact Al Qaeda.

"Nobody wanted to go after him because of political correctness," Robertson said on Monday. "We just don't talk about somebody's quote 'religion,' even if the religion involved beheading infidels and pouring boiling oil down their throats."

Robertson said Islam should be treated like a fringe political movement

"If we don't stop covering up what Islam is ... Islam is a violent -- I was going to say religion, but it's not a religion, it's a political system, it's a violent political system bent on the overthrow of the governments of the world and world domination," Robertson said. "You're dealing with not a religion, you're dealing with a political system, and I think we should treat it as such, and treat its adherents as such as we would members of the communist party, members of some fascist group."

Robertson pointed the finger of blame at the US military, suggesting that the families of the 12 killed and 30 wounded have a strong case for suing the Pentagon.

"Those in the Army should be held to account for the fact they let this man loose," Robertson said.

This is not the first time that Robertson has aired controversial views about an act of violence on American soil. In 2001, shortly after the 9/11 attacks, Robertson agreed with fellow preacher Jerry Falwell that the attacks were God's punishment for the US allowing abortion and homosexuality.

"I really believe that the pagans and the abortionists and the feminists and the gays and the lesbians who are actively trying to make that an alternative lifestyle, the ACLU, People for the American Way, all of them who try to secularize America ... I point the finger in their face and say you helped this happen," Falwell said, to which Robertson replied: "I totally concur."

Both evangelists issued apologies for their statements later.

ORLY TAITZ: 'BLIND OBEDIENCE' TO MILITARY CAUSED FORT HOOD MASSACRE

But Robertson's theme this week -- that the military is to blame for not preventing the massacre -- has been echoed by numerous right-wing pundits. As David Weigel reported at the Washington Independent, "birther" lawyer Orly Taitz is arguing that the Fort Hood massacre is evidence that soldiers should be allowed to disobey orders.

Taitz is the lawyer who has spearheaded a number of largely unsuccessful lawsuits challenging Barack Obama's legitimacy as president on the argument that Obama is not a natural-born citizen of the United States. She was behind the release of the now-discredited "Kenyan birth certificate" for the president.

In an appeal of a federal court's decision to dismiss one of her lawsuits, Taitz wrote:

Recent terrorist incident at Fort Hood has given this question paramount importance. This order has advocated blind obedience by the members of the military. If someone were to have common sense, brains and strength of character to challenge allegiance of Nidal Malik Hasan in court, after he made numerous anti-American and antimilitary statements, maybe 12 young boys wouldn’t be 6 feet under today, maybe 12 mothers and 12 fathers wouldn’t had their hearts ripped out of their chests and torn apart.

And the author of a recent book claiming that the US's largest Muslim advocacy group is trying to plant "spies" on Capitol Hill now says the Fort Hood massacre proves it's time for a "backlash" against Muslims.

In an interview with FamilySecurityMatters.org, Dave Gaubatz, co-author of Muslim Mafia: Inside the Secret Underworld That's Seeking to Islamize America, said it's time to make a "bonfire" out of the terrorist materials he says are circulating in mosques.

"This was not an isolated incident," Gaubatz told the Web site:

Maj. Hasan (allegedly) did what he was taught. Politicians, Muslims, and law enforcement are concerned about a 'backlash' against Muslims. Now is the time for a professional and legal backlash against the Muslim Brotherhood and their leaders. ... If Muslims do not want a backlash, then I would recommend a “house cleaning.” Stack every Saudi, al Qaeda, Pakistani, Taliban, Hamas, and Muslim Brotherhood piece of material from their mosque and have a bonfire. Tell the American, Jewish, and Muslim community this hatred will no longer be allowed in their mosques.

Last month, four Republican House representatives called for an investigation into claims in Gaubatz's book that the Council on American-Islamic Relations, the largest Muslim advocacy group in Washington, is trying to use the congressional intern program as a way to plant "Muslim spies" on Capitol Hill. That notion was met with derision and ridicule from CAIR, which said that Gaubatz used his son to steal private documents from the group, and that the documents showed nothing more than typical lobbying activities by CAIR.

On Monday, a federal judge ordered Gaubatz to remove some of the 12,000 pages of CAIR documents he had posted to his Web site. The judge supported CAIR's claims that the documents were "unlawfully obtained."

The following video was broadcast on The 700 Club, November 9, 2009, and uploaded to the Web by MediaMatters.

Judge tosses birther suit, threatens lawyer with sanctions

By Daniel Tencer A federal judge in Georgia has threatened Orly Taitz, de facto leader of the birther movement, with sanctions if she ever brings another “frivolous” case before him, news reports say.

Judge Clay Land of the US District Court in Columbus, Georgia, threw out a case brought by US Army Captain Connie Rhodes, who earlier this month sued for the right to refuse deployment orders to Iraq, on the argument that the commander-in-chief of the armed forces, President Barack Obama, was not born in the United States and is therefore not the legitimate head of the army.

According to the Columbus Ledger-Enquirer, Judge Clay stated in his ruling that the plaintiff “has presented no credible evidence and has made no reliable factual allegations to support her unsubstantiated, conclusory allegations and conjecture that President Obama is ineligible to serve as president of the United States.”

The ruling continues: “Instead, she uses her complaint as a platform for spouting political rhetoric, such as her claims that the president is ‘an illegal usurper, an unlawful pretender, [and] an unqualified imposter.’”

As WTVM-TV in Columbus reported, the judge also stated that Rhodes’ attorney, birther leader Orly Taitz, “will be subject to counsel sanctions for bringing any future actions in his court which are similarly frivolous.”

The judge’s ruling represents a significant legal defeat for Taitz and the birther movement, which received a great deal of attention from the media this summer. Media watchdog groups specifically targeted CNN’s Lou Dobbs, who gave the discredited theory that Obama was not born in the United States a disproportionate amount of coverage, according to some observers.

Taitz was behind this summer’s release of a purported “Kenyan birth certificate” for President Obama, which was dated two years after the president’s 1961 birth date, and contradicted Hawaiian officials’ long-standing insistence that the president’s Hawaiian birth certificate is legitimate.

Judge Clay ruled that that document, which evidently formed the backbone of the plaintiff’s case, was illegitimate because Taitz’s organization paid money to acquire it, making it tantamount to bribery.

However, the legal actions challenging President Obama’s citizenship have not ended. A US District Court judge in California recently allowed another lawsuit challenging President Obama’s citizenship to go forward. This one, brought by Capt. Pamela Barnett, also involves Taitz. The first hearing is set for October, when the judge will review a motion to dismiss the case.

Chuck Norris is a birther.

By Amanda Terkel In a column today, actor and right-wing activist Chuck Norris wishes President Obama a “happy birthday” by challenging him to produce his “original birth certificate.” Norris says that while he finds it “a bit of a groundless stretch” to doubt that Obama was born in Hawaii, he nevertheless adds that there’s no excuse for not producing other documentation:

I’m writing you because this is no longer a matter merely about proving you meet a presidential prerequisite in the Constitution. Refusing to post your original birth certificate is an unwise political and leadership decision that is enabling the “birther” controversy. The nation you are called to lead is experiencing a growing swell of conspirators who are convinced that you are covering up something. So why not just prove them wrong and shut them up?

I agree with CNN’s Lou Dobbs, who was chastised by his own media outlet for demanding the release of your original birth certificate. Why was that such a bad request? We certainly know why Jon Klein, the president of CNN/U.S., thought it was a bad idea. He previously declared that CNN researchers had determined that your 1961 birth certificate no longer exists.

Obama, of course, has presented a digitally scanned image of his birth certificate that includes a raised seal and the signature stamp of the Hawaii state registrar. Dobbs has said that Obama might have “a document issue,” hinting that Obama might be an undocumented immigrant. (HT: Huffington Post)

M.C.L comment:

Obama should only produce his birth certificate only if Chuck Norris produce actually proof that he can act.