Wednesday, June 10, 2009

Republican Base God,Guns & Racism & Obama Conspiracy Theories Debunked By Media Matters

UPDATE: 11:30 AM June 10, 2009

What once were Far Right Conspiracy Theories have gone Mainstream since the election of Barack Obama. Much of this would be funny if these people were not "Deadly Serious " & armed & Dangerous .

The Republicans & Conservatives & their Noise Machine Fox News still don't understand how they could have lost the election They therefore believe that Obama & the Democratic party could not have gotten into power merely because the American people no longer trusted or believed in the Republican platform & wanted a change-or that the people finally realized the Bush Regime had created a mess-

Because the Republican party claimed to represent Real Americans & was the party of Family Values & God how could the people vote against them - so something nefarious was going on - ie Obama through his hypnotic powers & charisma was able to fool the American people with the help of some evil cabal in the Media except for Fox news & the Rupert Murdock holdings. So Obama in their view did not win the election fairly because he tricked the American people . Once in power they believed Obama would push his radical UnAmerican, anti-Christian ,anti-God, one world, or New World Order policies.

But of course part of the anxiety on the right is to do with the fact that Obama is African-American & therefore as was said over & over again during the election & since was that "He is not one of us " or he is as Pat Buchanan said " exotic " which was racist code for He is not white. To a large proportion of the Republican Base the thought of a black president is abhorrent & is an abomination . They therefore invent elaborate theories explaining how a black man could have become president ie he duped fooled hypnotized the public with his super powers which he has because he is the anti-Christ or is demonic or people voted for him just because he was black & they didn't want to be accused of being racist or according to the more extreme Nutter type theory is that Obama is part of The New World Order/Bohemian Grove cabal or is one of the so called Lizard People ( see David Icke website on the Lizard People or On Bohemian Grove Alex Jones) .

Anyway out of their anxiety, fear & anger no matter what President Obama does is characterized as being wrong & as part of a larger evil agenda.

Another reason the Republicans have had to demonize Obama is that he said that he was willing to work with the Republicans on formulating policies but fearing negative fallout from their base the Republicans have had to invent reasons why they can't work with Obama. So if Obama is characterized as a secret Muslim or a Socialist or collectivist or as UnAmerican or even the Anti-Christ then of course the Republicans would not be able to cooperate with Obama .



100 Days of "Fair & Balanced"- Fear Mongering About president Obama- Stirring up their right wing base -Calling for action & revolution - Teabagers & Assassins

"Fox News has reason to rejoice as President Obama marks the media-manufactured milestone of his first 100 days in office. The conservative cable network's ratings are sky high under the new Democratic president. Yes, it looks like it couldn't be happier serving as "the voice of [Obama's] opposition," to paraphrase Fox News senior vice president Bill Shine. Karl Frisch, Senior Fellow at Media Matters for America"



There are a number of conspiracy theories about President Obama which are being promulgated even by the mainstream media in the U.S. but especially of course by Fox News network. Obama conspiracy theories include : that he is not an American citizen , Obama can't speak without the Telepromter, he is the anti-Christ ,a secret Muslim, working with others to bring about The New World Order ,that he is a Socialist , Collectivist, Fascist etc. Salon .com has published an article compiling a number of these conspiracy theories & names those who are promoting these Conspiracy theories & then debunks each one so here are some choice bits from the article:

Crazy right-wing myths about Obama 2.0 The post-inauguration edition of odd things conservatives believe about Obama. Teleprompters! Hitler Youth! Satan!By Salon staff, Salon.com June 8, 2009


During the presidential campaign nutty right-wing rumors about Barack Obama swamped the Internet. Via mass e-mails, fearful conservatives were told that the Democratic nominee was a dangerous radical and a secret Muslim who would take the oath of office with his hand on the Koran. A whole conspiracy cult embraced the belief that Obama was not a natural-born U.S. citizen and was thus ineligible for the presidency. The Obama campaign had to build a Web site just to debunk the viral mythmaking.

After winning the election, President Obama, who was born in Hawaii (see his birth certificate here) was sworn in on Abraham Lincoln's Bible. He went to church on Easter Sunday. The supposed Manchurian candidate can't even get Gitmo closed properly, much less lead the Senate in a chorus of "The Internationale."

But the mythmaking has not stopped. The wheels of rumor grind fast, but they grind exceedingly dumb. Marooned on a grassy knoll of the mind, the right has spun new and scarier fantasies about the president, tales that would send any patriotic, gun-toting Christian fleeing across the border to Canada, if only the Canadians weren't so damn socialist. We present for your inspection, and then debunk, or paw at in desultory fashion, a dozen of the choicest conspiracy theories to gain traction since Jan. 20...

Myth: Obama can't function without a teleprompter, even uses it for answers at press conferences.

Who's spreading it: Rush Limbaugh; TeleprompterPresident.com

Myth: Barack Obama is the Antichrist.

...What they believe: That, um, the president is Satan. Or Satan's son. Or maybe he's just the warm-up act for Satan. At the very least, he likes the devil.

...Myth: Obama is a Nazi-style eugenicist.

Who's spreading it: Glenn Beck

What they believe: Obama's support for embryonic stem cell research and abortion rights are all part of a nefarious plot to eliminate undesirables and create the master race through population control. The real mission of Planned Parenthood is the extermination of minorities before they make it out of the womb, and Obama, as an African-American, helps make this racist plan palatable to the targeted communities.

...Myth: Obama plans to resettle hundreds of thousands of Palestinians in the United States.

...Myth: Led by Obama, Democrats are planning to reinstitute the Federal Communications Commission's Fairness Doctrine, eviscerating right-wing talk radio in the process.

Who's spreading it: Rush Limbaugh; Sen. Jim DeMint

...Myth: Obama's stimulus provided cash for a "levitating train" between Disneyland and Nevada brothels.

Who's spreading it: Michelle Malkin, Fox News, Rep. Trent Franks, R-Ariz., Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal.

...Myth: Obama is a socialist.

Who's been spreading it: The loudest prophets of panic include a certain bald plumber, Michele Bachmann, who warned that we're "completely socializing the American economy," and Mike Huckabee, who scoffed that "Lenin and Stalin would love this stuff," referring to Obama's proposed budget.

...Myth: Obama is a fascist.

Who's been spreading it: Glenn Beck, but especially Jonah Goldberg. His revisionist history book, "Liberal Fascism," re-shelves European fascists as inveterate leftists and insinuates that vegetarian, organic-eating Hitler was some kind of proto-hippie.

...Myth: Republican Chrysler dealers were targeted for closure.

Who's spreading it: Michelle Malkin, World Net Daily, Doug Ross, the Washington Examiner, the Zero Hedge blog


...Myth: Obama has created his own version of the Hitler Youth.

Who's spreading it: Radio host Alex Jones; various hard-core right-wing bloggers

...Myth: The president wants to raise my taxes.

Who's been spreading it: CNBC's Rick Santelli won fame for his trading-floor conniptions, but he didn't start the tea-party movement or the post-inauguration antitax groundswell. (A whole cadre of conservatives has been warning about Obama's desire for higher taxes. In addition to Gingrich, Perry and Sanford, other right-wing luminaries such as Michelle Malkin and Dick Armey have also propagated the tax myth. However, give credit where credit is due: Unquestionably, the unofficial sponsor of the "Obama is going to raise my taxes" movement has been Fox News. Fox on-air personalities such as Glenn Beck, Neil Cavuto, and Sean Hannity steadily warned their audience of promoted the tea party demonstrations with unbridled gusto and Fox Business has the impending Obama tax hike.



Myth: The president is taking aim at the Second Amendment and wants to take our guns away.

Who's been spreading it: Though this meme has been around since early in the 2008 presidential campaign, a few big players have done more to spread this myth than others. These include the usual suspects when it comes to fears about gun regulation, with the NRA leading the charge. Local gun clubs, gun rights advocacy clubs and right-wing Web sites have also played a part. Fox News has also been spreading fear about gun control, especially Glenn Beck, but so too have Michele Bachmann and Chuck Norris. Sen. Tom Coburn, R-Okla., has said the administration has the goal of "disarming us". Even Obama's nomination of Sonia Sotomayor has triggered a boost in gun stocks. This is one myth that, regardless of its merits, is believed by a significant chunk of the population.




Fox News portrays itself as Fair & Balanced when in fact it is partisan & panders to its Far Right audience many of whom believe in these various Conspiracy Theories about President Obama. But when someone acts based upon what Fox News has told them to be true even though it isn't Fox News claims they were merely reporting the news. But this is not the case as Fox News uses inflammatory & highly charged rhetoric as if America was under attack by the Obama administration. So can we connect the dots between Fox News repeating over & over again how Evil Obama is & that he going to take away all guns from American citizens & a guy who shoots & kills police officers because he believed they were going to take away his guns . Or when Bill O'Reilley keeps harping on abortion provider Dr. Tiller & calls Tiller the baby killer & then Scott Roeder decides to murder Dr. Tiller is there a connection - words as Frank Schaeffer reminds us have consequences.

Fox Fuels the Fear :

From Conspiracy Theories to Cable News- Heading for A Totalitarian State
http://mediamatters.org/items/2009040...

Since President Obama's election, several conservative media figures have warned their audiences that Obama is planning to, in the words of Glenn Beck, "slowly but surely take away your gun or take away your ability to shoot a gun, carry a gun" or have suggested that a government effort to ban guns is likely.



Keith Olbermann Chastises Glenn Beck Over Cop Killings-April 7, 2009.



O'Reilly's 2006 Anti-Tiller Rant

O'Reilly: "[I]f I could get my hands on Tiller -- well, you know. Can't be vigilantes. Can't do that. It's just a figure of speech."

http://mediamatters.org/mmt...



O'Reilly and Fox News will have more right-wing vigilantism to explain by Eric Boehlert at Media Matters,June 09, 2009

If Fox News is going to continue to traffic in hateful rhetoric, then folks at Fox News, as well as their apologists in the GOP Noise Machine, are going to have to come up with better talking points to spin away the atmosphere of vigilantism fomented by their words and actions.

They need a better line of defense because the one they trotted out in the wake of the right-wing assassination of abortion provider Dr. George Tiller was wholly unconvincing.

It was just as feeble as the defense Fox News' Glenn Beck tried to employ in May to distance himself from the accused right-wing cop killer in Pittsburgh who seemed to mimic Beck's language about how President Obama was coming to take away everyone's guns.

The Fox News crew is going to need better talking points because I fear the violence -- the bouts of right-wing domestic terrorism -- are likely to continue. As long as Fox News and the Noise Machine refuse to back off the incendiary language that they're actively mainstreaming, the political violence, visible just months into Obama's historic first term, may have only begun.

Note that during a jailhouse interview, Tiller's suspected killer claimed that similar assassination plots against abortion providers are already being planned.

And please note what you did not hear from virtually anyone on the far right who addressed the Tiller story last week. Yes, they tried furiously to distance Bill O'Reilly from the controversy or suggest there was nothing problematic with the "baby killer" rhetoric he used. But what you did not hear was anyone condemn, or even take issue with, O'Reilly's on-air crusade.

...First, the idea that O'Reilly and company simply debated Tiller's work is laughable. O'Reilly's never been interested in any kind of back-and-forth about the abortion issue. He just rants and demonizes the other side. And in the case of Tiller, O'Reilly portrayed him as a lawless executioner. As Mary Alice Carr, vice president of communications for NARAL Pro-Choice New York, wrote in a recent op-ed for The Washington Post, "O'Reilly knew that people wanted Tiller dead, and he knew full well that many of those people were avid viewers of his show. Still, he fanned the flames."

And besides, if O'Reilly had merely been debating abortion -- if he had said nothing about Tiller that was regrettable or out of line -- why did O'Reilly at least twice last week falsely claim that he'd never called the doctor a "baby killer"?




And on the state of the Republican Party & its far right base:

"Gimme That Old-Time Religion" William Rivers Pitt, Truthout June 8, 2009

George W. Bush left office with a public approval rating under 30 percent. Less than 30 percent of Americans currently describe themselves as Republicans. The amalgam of evangelical Christians, hardcore gun-rights fanatics, anti-tax, anti-immigrant and anti-choice voters who make up the base of the Republican Party amount to less than 30 percent of the overall electorate.

These numbers reflect the present state of affairs for the GOP: they are a party controlled by their base, the same group of Americans whose support for Bush never wavered, and who still call themselves Republican despite the serial debacles of the last decade. These are the voters who listen to Limbaugh, Savage, Hannity and Beck, who watch Fox News to the exclusion of every other network, who think evolution is a fraud because dinosaurs are not mentioned in the Bible, and who believe President Obama is a secret Islamic terrorist communist Jew with a bum birth certificate.



Republicans Misstep on Sotomayor Attacks: When did Newt and the Gang Become Experts on Race?By C. Nicole Mason, AlterNet. Posted June 9, 2009.

...Whatever happened to the good old-fashioned definition of a racist, where one had to believe in ideas of racial superiority and use those beliefs to discriminate or cause harm to other groups deemed inferior?

This so-called new definition of racism, where attempting to right historic and present-day discrimination or having pride in your racial or ethnic background makes an individual racist, has me a little confused. According to the new definition of racism -- let's call it neo-racism -- anyone who believes we have not achieved racial equality despite years of efforts and work to level the playing field, can be considered a racist. Does that make sense?

In Sotomayor's case, embracing her Puerto Rican background rather than denying it; working as a young lawyer to end discrimination against Latinos and by extension many other disadvantaged groups, including women; and acknowledging that there is indeed a difference between her experiences growing up as a Latina and those of white men has made her a target. The question is, a target for what and for whom?

...The irony in all of this is that some of the longest-standing members of the "Old Boy's Network" have now appointed themselves as the experts on race relations in this country.

The reaction to Sonia Sotomayor's nomination to the Supreme Court shows that we still have a long way to go, but we are headed in the right direction.


and so it goes,
GORD.

No comments: