Post-Truth Politics, or How Republicans Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb

The Post-Truth Campaign – NYTimes.com

Over all, Mr. Obama’s positions on economic policy resemble those that moderate Republicans used to espouse. Yet Mr. Romney portrays the president as the second coming of Fidel Castro and seems confident that he will pay no price for making stuff up.

Welcome to post-truth politics.

Why does Mr. Romney think he can get away with this kind of thing? Well, he has already gotten away with a series of equally fraudulent attacks. In fact, he has based pretty much his whole campaign around a strategy of attacking Mr. Obama for doing things that the president hasn’t done and believing things he doesn’t believe.

Krugman nails it again — while Mitt is the most obvious offender by dint of being the Republican front-runner and likely eventual nominee, they all lie and dissemble constantly, and the media just lets them get away with it over and over again without a word on how a significant fraction of the national political landscape has become the province of narcissistic truth-dodgers.

As much as I would love to see a lefty in the White House in this country, it won’t happen, and for anyone at all to pretend that President Obama is some kind of crypto-socialist and wannabe dictator is beyond ridiculous; the man is a centrist generally, and a consensus politician. In the European context, he’d be a fine liberal member of, say, the CDU, or a One Nation Tory, for example, but he is by no means a leftist of any kind, and to pretend otherwise is dishonest at best, and leads us to the following question; regardless of whether his policies would be good or bad (and they would almost certainly be disastrous for the country as a whole), do we really want someone as truth-impaired as Mitt Romney anywhere near the White House?

(via.)

ETA: Appropriately, the Manics:

Really, Wingnuts? Really? Or, How being a rightwing pundit is a lobotomy without surgery

Wingnut blogs and their associated flying monkey commenters have been painting the President as the Grinch these last couple of weeks, having gotten their collective panties in a bunch over a “Christmas Tree Tax” – the Federal government is applying a 15¢ charge on all purchases of live Christmas trees.

The general tone has been: Aaaiee! The horror! It’s like the holocaust or something! Oh noes, Christians are only one step away from the ovens! Help us Santa Wan Kenobi, you’re our only hope!

The usual cretins have been involved, such as Drudge, Fox “News”, the National Review, the contemptible Heritage Foundation and the ever moronic Jim Hoft, who as is his wont does little more than ring the bell and run off giggling for us to find a flaming bag of someone else’s poop blog post. They and their ilk are painting it as the evil Feds trying to destroy Christmas or destroy businesses or bring on the anti-Christ or Marxism or whatever drooling idiocy they think this week.

As usual, it’s a tissue of lies from start to finish. The program is rooted in a proposal which was originally put together during the Bush Administration by the National Christmas Tree Association, as a response to declining sales of live trees. It is not a new tax imposed willy-nilly by the Obama Administration but a check off fee; under the terms of the operable law, a charge can be levied on all producers of a certain product to provide services to promote the growth of their businesses, such as advertising programs (such as Got Milk? and similar), feasibility studies and so on.

That’s right, the program was not imposed as some kind of anti-Christian punishment, or to promote Marxism at Christmas time – it was started at the request of Christmas tree growers so they could strengthen their businesses and sell more trees.

In other words, it’s just about as capitalist as you could want; it’s voluntary and benefits a business sector by promoting it.

The charge of it being anti-Christian is all so much loose stool water as well; aside from it being more of the same crypto-racist Hurr durr Obama’s a sekrit mooslim!, it fails the smell test in that it’s helping sell fucking Christmas trees! The only way it could be less anti-Christmas is if the Feds starting giving away tiny plastic Jesus figures with every purchase.

In short, the whole thing is a storm in a teacup, ginned up by ethically-challenged wingnuts to score cheap political points with their frothing-at-the-mouth readers. I’d castigate them for their poor journalism, but let’s be honest – none of these people are really journalists or committed to actual reporting; they’re bombthrowers dedicated to pushing a far-right agenda, and should be treated with all the contempt and disdain that this implies.

(h/t to Media Matters)

Yet more evidence that birtherism rots your brain

This time, it’s unlicensed “pastoral therapist” and crazypants blogger, Sam Sewell, who seems to think that this gives any law enforcement officer in the US the right to take a peek at Obama’s birth certificate. Yes, kids, you guessed it – it’s yet another “Any day now, this’ll be the thing that sinks the USURPERTRON!” moment (Usurpertron pictured at right, only $14.99 in all good local stores!).

Does the law say what Sam thinks? Sadly, no. The legislation refers to Haw. Rev. Stat. § 710-1000(13), which reads

(13) “Law enforcement officer” means any public servant, whether employed by the State or subdivisions thereof or by the United States, vested by law with a duty to maintain public order or, to make arrests for offenses or to enforce the criminal laws, whether that duty extends to all offenses or is limited to a specific class of offenses;

meaning Hawaiian or Federal law enforcement. Oops, Sam. You kind of made a booboo there.

Your second mistake, Mr Bond, was not actually reading beyond the part which tickled your fantasy; namely, that the PDF you linked to is not the law at present, so your whole post, while stupid, is also moot.

Yet more evidence that birtherism rots your brain

Exhibit A: This bucket of loose stool water, written by Joizy-based Mario “The Putzo” Appuzo, notorious ambulance chaser and infrequent contributor to the pit of slime known as the Pest & E-Fail, home of hobby-seditionist and professional harp-wrangler Sharon Rondeau.

This pail of arse gravy is being pimped by his Renfield, former Lieutenant Commander Charles Kerchner (obviously still butthurt over the fact that his noxious lawsuit was so casually dismissed by the Supremes). And it is the same unfounded nonsense that Mario has been squeezing out ever since he decided to squat down and drop a dookie on more than 200 years of law and precedent.

Mario, here’s the thing – repeating the same lie a thousand times does not magically make it true. You might want to clue Igor into that. Arguing contra legem is not an effective way to prove your case, even if done ad nauseam.

So, the question arises, a birther’s dilemma, if you will: Is Mario simply a shyster or a lunatic?

If he sincerely believes what he’s pushing, not only is he on the wrong side of two centuries of American case law and centuries more of common law before it, but also flatly in denial of those same things, flatly in denial of reality itself – in sum, if he believes exactly what he says, he is a lunatic.

On the other side of things, if he is simply pushing an unscrupulous agenda to con money out of cretins and birthers (but I repeat myself) like Kerchner by lying about what he knows to be true, he could very well be called a shyster.

So, which is it, Mario – crazy or con artist?

Yet more evidence that birtherism rots your brain.

Ockham’s Razor, you wingnut imbeciles; if several explanations for a phenomenon are present, the simpler is preferred.

To wit;

Wingnut Imbecile Theory – Obama’s SS number is fraudulent and this proves there is a massive, decades-long conspiracy encompassing all levels of government and involving both major political parties in the US at all levels.

Sane Intelligent Theory – idiots like Orly Taitz, Jerome Corsi, Gregory Hollister and Linda Jordan have splashed Obama’s SS number around the internet enough that he had a new one issued by the SS Administration.

Hmmm. Which is more plausible? The unsupported frothing of a bunch of ignorant cretins, or a simple administrative procedure?

No, President Obama Didn’t Have A Flag Removed From Ground Zero

From Media Matters: No, President Obama Didn’t Have A Flag Removed From Ground Zero.

What an extraordinarily unpleasant lot right-wing bloggers are. You’ll also note that even when they did issue retractions or make corrections instead of simply deleting the posts and pretending they never existed, they blamed Obama for their own stupidity, knee-jerk reactions and general dickishness. Stay classy, wingnuts.

Osama bin Laden is dead, Obama announces

Big news:

Osama bin Laden, the criminal mastermind behind al-Qaida and the world’s most sought-after terrorist since the attacks of 11 September 2001, has been killed by a US operation, President Barack Obama has announced.

In an address to the nation, President Obama said Bin Laden was killed in a “targeted operation” in Abbottabad, a highland town north of Islamabad, last night.

The operation started with an intelligence lead last August, and culminated in an operation involving a “small team of Americans”. “After a firefight they killed bin Laden.”

None of the Americans was killed. Pakistani co-operation “helped to lead us to him” he said.

ETA: The reactions over at LGM are, as usual, generally measured and thoughtful.

ETA: The Roasters go a little bananas, but still coherent and making sense.

ETA: In a move which shocks nobody, the CorrenteWhiners (and Lambchop in particular) are acting like bratty kids who don’t know anything about, well, anything.

ETA: Blimey. Fox News is actually doing proper journalism about it.

ETA: Apparently some guy inadvertently live tweeted the raid without knowing it at the time. Wow, that’s weird. Via.

ETA: Barron’s reports an upswing on the Dow and dollar following the announcement.

ETA: Dubya being surprisingly gracious; perhaps he’s mellowed in retirement.

ETA: From LGM, it looks like OBL may have been executed. Slightly troubling in a way, although to be honest, even if he’d been captured, any trial would’ve been a farce. Even the most committed defender of the concept of rule of law would find it difficult to argue that one..

A New Low for Lambert Strether

And, yes, I realise that Lambchop has already plumbed the depths more than a few times. This, however, is pretty shitty – a post on CorrenteWire headed Obama macht frei. Yes, that’s right, kids, Lambert has just made a post comparing the President to a Nazi.

But, Mike! I hear you cry, Right-wing nutjobs call Obama a Nazi all the time! What’s so bad about this?

For a start, Imaginary Crying Out Person, we expect that kind of thing from the RWNJs; they’re politically un-astute, stupid and hysterical in equal measure. What we don’t exect is for so-called Lefties to do the same; the claim has been for a while that the Left might have its crazies, but they don’t stoop to the same lows as the RWNJs. Lambert seems to be on a one-man crusade to change that.

Furthermore, Nazi comparisons are only OK when you’re comparing like for like. For those completely dim and uninformed, the slogan above several of the death camps run by the Nazis was Arbeit macht frei, most notably Auschwitz, which can be translated as “Work will set you free”. Its intended meaning is disputed, but there is no disputing that it is to this day a chillingly ironic statement, given that the prisoners at Auschwitz slaved and suffered and then were murdered en masse.

Under Bush, the camps at Guantanamo Bay were an abhorrent slap in the face to anyone with even the slightest concern for human rights and the rule of law, and while the situation has improved under Obama, it continues to be a sore on the body politic. However, to call this Obama’s fault, to attempt to cast the situation as his creation alone as Lambert does, is rather sickening; Congress and public opinion have stood squarely in the way of reform or closure of Guantanamo Bay’s detention facilities, with Congress going so far as to explicitly deny any funding for prisoners to be transferred elsewhere. Furthermore, Obama did not open Camp X-Ray or Camp Delta for prisoners accused of terrorism; Bush did, and Obama inherited the mess. This is not to give Obama a pass on this, but to point out that looking at the history and context, Obama is being severely hampered in any attempt to close the facility; it’s a damned if you, damned if you don’t scenario, and childish posts like Lambert’s serve only to cloud the issue.

And to return to the central point, Guantanamo Bay is not comparable to Auschwitz. To act as if it is makes the person claiming it look stupid and foolish, and trivialises the actual suffering that took place under the Nazis, all simply to take a cheap shot against the President.

So, well done, Lambert. You’ve successfully made yourself look like a very petty, unpleasant man.

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ETA: Apparently we can add passive-aggressive and shrill to that description:

Rather than addressing the issues at hand (that is, that he is trivialising suffering to score cheap political points and using specious comparisons), Lambert’s response is… what, exactly? How does one adequately characterise this kind of thing? I think the closest equivalent is Nyah nyah nyah! It’s certainly noting substantive, anyway.

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Add to that unable to perceive irony:

Someone needs to tell Lambert that Greenwald is really not the best person to reference when talking about pearl clutching, being a world class master of fauxtrage himself; similarly, Lambchop, it’s only pearl clutching when there is no controversy or if it’s overblown for the purposes of creating controversy. Comparing the actions of President Obama to the Nazis, in serious vein, and then trying to wriggle out of it or make light of it is a dick move, more appropriate to Republicans. If you have substantial criticisms to offer, do so, but as yet, all you’ve offered is the blog equivalent to the yellow press.

Not to mention that Greenwald is not exactly pure as the driven snow on Nazi comparisons, having once compared a Jewish supporter of Obama to Leni Riefenstahl; I can see why you’d link to him. Stay classy, Lambert.

Birthers – still racist morons

As predicted, following the release of certified copies of the President’s so-called long form birth certificate, the idiots have moved the goalposts.

This is why I think this was an unwise move on the part of the White House. The birthers don’t care about evidence; if they did, the birth certificate released in 2008 would’ve made them shut up and go away.

What the birthers care about is getting the Black guy out of the White House, and every piece of evidence presented to them will simply result in a new demand – witness the idiocy of Larry Wells, as linked above. Shown evidence of the so-called long form, without pause he then demands the President’s school records, as if that had any bearing on his fitness or eligibility to the office.

That’s why the claims of simply being defenders of the Constitution ring hollow; why the cries that releasing the original documentation would be enough sounded so false.

Nothing will ever be enough, because the birthers have made their minds up – they think Barack Obama is not a legitimate President because he’s Black, and they will go to any lengths to hold onto that.

ETA: Cogent analysis at the OC from Dr C as well.

ETA: Andrew Sullivan forfeits the last, tiniest iota of credibility he had on making cogent political analysis at the Daily Beast by putting on his clown shoes and splashing about in the eligibility muck. Enjoy your red nose, Andy.

ETA: Visit Rumproast for some snark on it. And be their fans, also, too; they’re actually all very nice, and the whole snarling and teeth showing is just an act. Except for Kevin, who consumes puppies on a daily basis.

ETA: See also Patrick’s take on it. As usual, some quality writing and analysis; if you’re not already a fan of Bad Fiction, you should be.

ETA: Further news via the BBC. Worldclass douchecanoe and fuckhead extraordinaire Joseph Farah of WingNutDaily infamy weighs in as his mealticket starts to crumble:

It remains unclear whether the release of the birth certificate will satisfy the most hard-core birthers.

Joseph Farah, chief executive of birther-orientated website WorldNetDaily.com, said on the site the document “raises as many questions as it answers”.

“It is important to remember there are still dozens of other questions concerning this question of eligibility… concerning Barack Obama’s parentage, his adoption, his citizenship status throughout his life and why he continues to cultivate a culture of secrecy around his life,” he said.

Well, you would say that, Joe. You’ve been making a living off being a liar about this for a couple of years now; why would additional evidence stop you? What a piece of work you are, you obnoxious little fuck-knuckle.

ETA: The President’s address on the subject below the jump. He just ripped the birthers a new one; essentially the content is “Grow the fuck up, you stupid, silly children. When you’re ready to be grown-ups, you can find us sitting at the adults’ table, trying to solve some real problems.”

Silly Birthers

Silly birthers! Unless your parents are diplomats, parentage is irrelevant for determining natural-born citizenship.

Your arguments are ridiculous, and completely unsupported by the law, case rulings and the Constitution. Still, that’s never stopped you before.

And as to Trump’s letter to the NYT – well, it’s hardly Presidential material, is it? It reads more like a snarky adolescent taking potshots at someone who’s outdone him in a debate.

Then again, it’s not really an issue, is it? The Donald (and his Tribble) will never be President. He’s simply concern trolling to boost ratings for his failing TV show, and I would lay good money on his never filing to run for office; he’s probably too busy being an aging roué with ever more ridiculous hair. Hey, Donald – with all the money you currently have (until the next time you run your business into the ground!), you could at least fork out a few dollars for a mirror or two.