More Anti-Obama Propaganda

[Aasharu]

Video Here

Basically, the gist of the video is the claim that Obama lied about his citizenship, and used legal loopholes to gain a birth certificate.

This was sent to me by a friend, who wants to know just how truthful this is. I don't know enough to refute it, but I suspect people here do.

Comments?

[SirNitram]

It's been repeatedly shot down since the Democratic primaries narrowed to Hillary vs. Obama. It's continued repetition is merely proof of the stupidity of some people.

[ArcturusMengsk]

Ask your friend to see John McCain's birth certificate, and the legal status of Panama during the 1930's.

I'm not sayin'. I'm just sayin'.

[RedImperator]

Ludicrous nonsense. Obama was born in Honolulu, the capital of a US state, to an American citizen. McCain supporters are playing with fire if they want to raise citizenship questions about presidential candidates; the legal status of the Panama Canal Zone and the people born in it was murky until 20 years after McCain was born. McCain was, of course, born to American citizens, but if you want to get nitpicky, the Constitution does not define "natural born citizen"--does it mean born to citizens, or born on American soil, or both? I'm not personally arguing McCain is constitutionally disqualified from becoming president, but if some idiot really wanted to run down this rabbit hole, Obama is in a much better position than McCain.

[Gil Hamilton]

I'm not sure McCain supports care that much if it's ludicrous. They'll believe alot.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zRqcfqiXCX0

[Ender]

link

The latest newsletter by an Inland Republican women's group depicts Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama surrounded by a watermelon, ribs and a bucket of fried chicken, prompting outrage in political circles.

The October newsletter by the Chaffey Community Republican Women, Federated says if Obama is elected his image will appear on food stamps -- instead of dollar bills like other presidents. The statement is followed by an illustration of "Obama Bucks" -- a phony $10 bill featuring Obama's face on a donkey's body, labeled "United States Food Stamps."

The GOP newsletter, which was sent to about 200 members and associates of the group by e-mail and regular mail last week, is drawing harsh criticism from members of the political group, elected leaders, party officials and others as racist.

The group's president, Diane Fedele, said she plans to send an apology letter to her members and to apologize at the club's meeting next week. She said she simply wanted to deride a comment Obama made over the summer about how as an African-American he "doesn't look like all those other presidents on the dollar bills."

"It was strictly an attempt to point out the outrageousness of his statement. I really don't want to go into it any further," Fedele said in a telephone interview Tuesday. "I absolutely apologize to anyone who was offended. That clearly wasn't my attempt."

Fedele said she got the illustration in a number of chain e-mails and decided to reprint it for her members in the Trumpeter newsletter because she was offended that Obama would draw attention to his own race. She declined to say who sent her the e-mails with the illustration.

She said she doesn't think in racist terms, pointing out she once supported Republican Alan Keyes, an African-American who previously ran for president.

"I didn't see it the way that it's being taken. I never connected," she said. "It was just food to me. It didn't mean anything else."

She said she also wasn't trying to make a statement linking Obama and food stamps, although her introductory text to the illustration connects the two: "Obama talks about all those presidents that got their names on bills. If elected, what bill would he be on????? Food Stamps, what else!"

Club Member Cries

Sheila Raines, an African-American member of the club, was the first person to complain to Fedele about the newsletter. Raines, of San Bernardino, said she has worked hard to try to convince other minorities to join the Republican Party and now she feels betrayed.

"This is what keeps African-Americans from joining the Republican Party," she said. "I'm really hurt. I cried for 45 minutes."

The Obama campaign declined to comment. It's the campaign's policy to not address such attacks, said Gabriel Sanchez, a California spokesman for the campaign.

The newsletter prompted a rebuke from another African-American member of the organization, which is well recognized in the community for its philanthropy and efforts to register and turn out voters in the Rancho Cucamonga and Upland areas.

Acquanetta Warren, a Fontana councilwoman and member of the women's group, said the item is rude and requires a public apology.

"When I opened that up and saw it, I said, 'Why did they do this? It doesn't even reflect our principles and values,' " said Warren, who served as a Republican delegate to the national convention in September and is a regional vice chairwoman for the California Republican Party. "I know a lot of the ladies in that club and they're fantastic. They're volunteers. They really care -- some of them go to my church."

Warren forwarded an electronic version of the newsletter to the California Republican Party headquarters, where officials also were outraged Wednesday and denounced the illustration.

Hector Barajas, the party's press secretary, said the party chairman likely will have a conversation with Fedele, and Barajas will attend the statewide California Federation of Republican Women conference this weekend in Los Angeles to handle any news media there to cover the controversy.

Obama in Turban

The newsletter is not the first such episode Barajas has had to respond to this week. The Sacramento Bee on Wednesday posted an image it said was captured from the Sacramento County GOP Web site that showed Obama in a turban next to Osama bin Laden.

It said: "The difference between Osama and Obama is just a little B.S." The site also encouraged members to "Waterboard Barack Obama," a reference to a torture technique. The Sacramento County party took down the material Tuesday after being criticized.

Mark Kirk, a spokesman for the San Bernardino County GOP chairman, said he expects Chairman Gary Ovitt to also have a talk with Fedele and to attend the group's local meeting next week to discuss the issue with members, although the county GOP has no formal oversight role over the club. Kirk said these kinds of depictions hurt the party's ongoing efforts to reach out to minorities.

"It's very damaging and we're going to take steps to correct this," Kirk said. "Unfortunately, I don't know what you do to correct ignorance like this, but we will do what we can."

Assemblyman Bill Emmerson, R-Redlands, and state Sen. Bob Dutton, R-Rancho Cucamonga, both criticized the illustration as inappropriate and irresponsible.

Dutton pointed out that his wife, a member of the club, is of Mexican heritage and has battled criticism that the Republican Party is not the party for minorities. The club's newsletter undercuts efforts to rise above racism, he said.

"Bias and racial comments and even suggestions are frankly what weakens us as a people. I think we as Americans need to rise above that," he said.

Emmerson said he was extremely offended and sickened by the newsletter.

Barbara O'Connor, director of the Institute for the Study of Politics and the Media at Cal State Sacramento, said it's imperative that people speak out about these kinds of depictions no matter how small the organization. She praised Raines for doing so.

"It's a statement about what is civil discourse and can you get away with doing something under an organizational banner," she said. "You have to cut it out at the root and the root is often small organizations that are local and they then become larger."

[CaptJodan]

Saw that on Olberman. It's disgraceful. Utterly disgraceful.

[Terralthra]

GOP Site in California Removes 'Waterboard Obama' Graphic
The Sacramento Republican Party's Web site encouraged readers to "Waterboard Barack Obama" and compared Obama to Usama bin Laden, drawing criticism from state and local Democrats and Republicans.

FOXNews.com

Wednesday, October 15, 2008

The Sacramento County Republican Party posted anti-Obama slogans comparing the candidate to Usama bin Laden on its web site. (Sacramentorepublicans.org)

A California county's Republican Party Web site encouraged readers to "Waterboard Barack Obama" and compared Obama to Usama bin Laden, drawing criticism on Wednesday from Democrats and Republicans in the state.

The Web site of the Sacramento County Republican Party posted five illustrations saying that the terrorist group Hamas supported Obama and that "the only difference between Obama and Osama is BS." Another attacked Michelle Obama, reading, "Hey Obama! Want to see bitter?"

The graphics were removed from the site by Wednesday, after the state GOP urged the local group to take them down.

The state Republican Party learned of the controversial content when it received a phone call from a reporter, said party spokesman Hector Barajas.

"I called the Sacramento county chairman and I had them remove it," Barajas said. "I also noted to them that this is a complete distraction from what we're trying to do, and that's elect John McCain and Sarah Palin as the next president and vice president of the United States."

Sacramento County Republican Chairman Craig MacGlashan could not be reached for comment Wednesday afternoon, but the Sacramento Bee reported that he defended the Web site's content.

"I'm aware of the content," MacGlashan told the newspaper. "Some people find it offensive, others do not. I cannot comment on how people interpret things."

By Tuesday night the graphics had been removed. "These types of innuendos have absolutely no place in this election," Barajas said. "This isn't a thing we want out there."

Barajas said the slurs asserting Obama was Muslim and tying him to terrorism were like the Democratic Party's attempts make race an issue in the election.

"I think it's a distraction... I figured that we would have moved far beyond this, and as a person of color I'd rather have a discussion on the issues and why Barack Obama is not ready to be commander in chief," Barajas said.

Bob Mulholland, spokesman for the California Democratic Party, said that the state party wasn't focusing on the incident.

"The big picture, that's where we're focusing," Mulholland said.

"I think the Republicans will be indicted on Nov. 4, so the jury will speak then. The verdict will be Barack Obama for president. We'll be picking up House seats. We'll be picking up Senate seats."

He called the Sacramento County GOP's move just one more flailing attempt to stop the Republicans' slide "down that path of oblivion."

The image in question:


source. I heard about it on NPR.

[Aratech]

Mother fuckers....

[CaptJodan]

Yay for free speech.

Honestly, I know it's politically not the smart thing to do for Obama to respond to this shit, but I have to imagine it makes him angry in private. I WISH he could come out and blast McCain and his camp. I wish that Obama could say these people are the scum of this country. But...he can't. And he's probably right not to, given that the negativity was scored low last night.

[Patrick Degan]

Yay for free speech.

Honestly, I know it's politically not the smart thing to do for Obama to respond to this shit, but I have to imagine it makes him angry in private. I WISH he could come out and blast McCain and his camp. I wish that Obama could say these people are the scum of this country. But...he can't. And he's probably right not to, given that the negativity was scored low last night.

Never stand in the way of your enemies when they're determined to destroy themselves. I think Sen. Obama understands this principle very well.

[Crossroads Inc.]

While im all for letting these peopel continue to shoot themselves in the foot ... But the following really, REALLY stuck in my crawl...

Sacramento County Republican Chairman Craig MacGlashan could not be reached for comment Wednesday afternoon, but the Sacramento Bee reported that he defended the Web site's content.

"I'm aware of the content," MacGlashan told the newspaper. "Some people find it offensive, others do not. I cannot comment on how people interpret things."

So let me get this, you can see why an image of Obama being compared to Osama, and with a caption that says "WATERBORED OBAMA" might, just MIGHT be offensive?

[ray245]

Someone really need to revise those free speech laws.

[Flagg]

Someone really need to revise those free speech laws.

Why? The racist shit is well... Racist shit. The Republic will survive hurt feelings.

The 'Waterboard Obama' is a clear threat to the mans person and should be treated so, IMO. Free speech does not and has not ever applied to threats against ones person, as that clearly is.

[salm]

Haha, so the republicans are just as childish as stupid little internet tough guys. What a surprise.

[Siege]

"I didn't see it the way that it's being taken. I never connected," she said. "It was just food to me. It didn't mean anything else."

Can she really be this fucking stupid? Because I've heard this kind of excuse a lot from Republicans - like the time Republican Rep. Lynn Westmoreland called Obama "uppity"... As soon as it gets the media's attention out comes the tired old 'oh yeah sorry, that was a poor choice of words'. Maybe it's just me, but if even people on other continents can immediately grasp that what you just said is extremely offensive, you're either too fucking stupid to breathe or you're just a despicable racist caught with your pants down and your hand in the cookie jar. And I'm leaning toward the latter option myself.

[Coyote]

The sad truth is, the Republican Party as a whole is being painted as a mob of racist thugs by this election. They've had these sorts of things whispered for years, but now it's pretty much open. It will take awhile for them to recover from this, if indeed they do. I sense the Republican Party may well splinter, fracture, and come apart in a few years. Here's hope.

[Gil Hamilton]

The sad truth is, the Republican Party as a whole is being painted as a mob of racist thugs by this election. They've had these sorts of things whispered for years, but now it's pretty much open. It will take awhile for them to recover from this, if indeed they do. I sense the Republican Party may well splinter, fracture, and come apart in a few years. Here's hope.

They might want to so something about the highly visible segment of the Party that IS acting like a mob of racist thugs. That's the thing, political parties have always held that "a bigoted psychopath vote is still a vote" and are so afraid of alienating their base that they are systematically ignoring or even exploiting the increasing mob of crazies in their midst. If the Republicans don't want that reputation, they should openly and publically disown the people who are shouting "KILL OBAMA!" and tell the racists who think he's the Muslim Manchurian Candidate or the White Power voters to simply not vote Republican. They are never going to do that, so they get what they deserve.

[Ender]

Stay classy, Virginia

Surprise, shock and some fear in a local neighborhood, after an anti-Obama display is hung from a tree. The display is at a home at Symmes and Hicks Road in Fairfield.

And the person who put it there says the message isn't political, it's racist. Shawn Ley spoke with the man who isn't shy about his views.

There it is, right above the "McCain-Palin" sign: a make-shift ghost, hanging from a noose. A Barack Obama sign attached upside down. Obama's middle name: "Hussein" spray painted and misspelled above.

Mike Lunsford hung the ghost in his yard. He spoke to us off-camera, saying his views could hurt his employers business ... but he says make no mistake: He doesn't want an African American running the country.

Lunsford says he believes Barack Obama is not a "full blooded American." And he says the United States is a white, Christian nation - and only with white Christians should be in power. With Lunsford not willing to share his views on-camera:

"It's like whoa. He's definitely anti-black."

His neighbors are. Vickie Crowe lives next door. She's an Obama supporter.

"What did you think when you first saw that?" Vickie Crowe/neighbor: "Well actually my 5 year old son says Obama's hanging upside down. He's what? He's hanging upside down. It's the neighbor's ghost. I took it as a little bit of a racist statement because my grandson's mixed and it hurt a little bit."

Mike Lunsford says he got the idea after an Obama supporter in New York put up this display of a Obama mannequin being chased by a figure of John McCain wearing Ku Klux Klan robes.

Here - new mom Megan story says this symbol makes her more than uneasy it scares her. Megan Story/neighbor: "He's been a really nice neighbor but it's one of those you question and wonder, you know, if he's that forward about something will he be forward enough to do something else, too. it is scary at times but we live in a scary world."

Lunsford also says he's motivated by the national media which he says is pro-Obama. The McCain KKK image is being celebrated as a "hit" on the internet. Lunsford expects a negative reaction to this, although he hasn't gotten any complaints.

[Broomstick]

Video Here

Basically, the gist of the video is the claim that Obama lied about his citizenship, and used legal loopholes to gain a birth certificate.

This was sent to me by a friend, who wants to know just how truthful this is. I don't know enough to refute it, but I suspect people here do.

I only listened to the first half, but here's where Mr. Lawyer fucked up:

1) It doesn't matter where Obama was born - Honolulu or Kenya or the dark side of the moon - because his mother was a US citizen at the time of his birth he is a "natural born citizen" of the United States. Either you are born on US soil or at least one of your parents is a US citizen, that is the requirement.

2) While Obama's step-father might have filled out a form saying one thing, that did not mean Barrack renounced his US citizenship and, given the circumstances, I'm surprised the idea of lying to get the kid into school wasn't considered. Aside from that, the name on that form was "Barry Suerto" or some such (hard to read) and it could be argued that that was not legally the kid's name - already an indication of fibbing, yes? Whether or not Indonesia recognizes Obama's US citizenship has no bearing on the United States recognizing Obama's citizenship.

[Rye]

Oh my fucking god! How can a mainstream political party -one that's been in power for eight years at that- put that shit on their own website? They're not even hiding behind members of the public and anonymity any more! And no doubt the pieces of shit that support them think that there's some sort of even distribution of such shit between the parties. God I hate American right wingers, they're so fucking fundamentally broken at every level. I hate our right wingers too, but as racist and socially damaging as they can be, America really takes the cake, fucks it, then blames it on blacks, the poor and socialists.

[The Romulan Republic]

Stay classy, Virginia

Surprise, shock and some fear in a local neighborhood, after an anti-Obama display is hung from a tree. The display is at a home at Symmes and Hicks Road in Fairfield.

And the person who put it there says the message isn't political, it's racist. Shawn Ley spoke with the man who isn't shy about his views.

There it is, right above the "McCain-Palin" sign: a make-shift ghost, hanging from a noose. A Barack Obama sign attached upside down. Obama's middle name: "Hussein" spray painted and misspelled above.

Mike Lunsford hung the ghost in his yard. He spoke to us off-camera, saying his views could hurt his employers business ... but he says make no mistake: He doesn't want an African American running the country.

Lunsford says he believes Barack Obama is not a "full blooded American." And he says the United States is a white, Christian nation - and only with white Christians should be in power. With Lunsford not willing to share his views on-camera:

"It's like whoa. He's definitely anti-black."

His neighbors are. Vickie Crowe lives next door. She's an Obama supporter.

"What did you think when you first saw that?" Vickie Crowe/neighbor: "Well actually my 5 year old son says Obama's hanging upside down. He's what? He's hanging upside down. It's the neighbor's ghost. I took it as a little bit of a racist statement because my grandson's mixed and it hurt a little bit."

Mike Lunsford says he got the idea after an Obama supporter in New York put up this display of a Obama mannequin being chased by a figure of John McCain wearing Ku Klux Klan robes.

Here - new mom Megan story says this symbol makes her more than uneasy it scares her. Megan Story/neighbor: "He's been a really nice neighbor but it's one of those you question and wonder, you know, if he's that forward about something will he be forward enough to do something else, too. it is scary at times but we live in a scary world."

Lunsford also says he's motivated by the national media which he says is pro-Obama. The McCain KKK image is being celebrated as a "hit" on the internet. Lunsford expects a negative reaction to this, although he hasn't gotten any complaints.

Would that legally qualify as a threat against a Presidential Candadite? I'm not sure what the laws are in the US regarding that, but it would be nice to see people like this suffer some consequences.

[ray245]

Well Obama can always do a LKY and proceed to sue the republicans and all those people.

The down side is, it will not make you popular, and you will be viewed as a despot abusing your power against the 'weak' and 'poor'.