New Jersey Police: Reports Like Lou Dobbs’ ‘Not At All Uncommon’ During Hunting Season
New Jersey Police: Reports Like Lou Dobbs’ ‘Not At All Uncommon’ During Hunting Season
Several media sources have reported that shots were fired at the residence of CNN’s Lou Dobbs. While Dobbs and his anti-immigrant supporters were quick to jump to conclusions about the motive of the shooting, Sgt. Stephen Jones confirmed to ThinkProgress this morning that the New Jersey State Police are stilling “looking at all the possibilities” and that a hunting-related accident has not been ruled out.
Sgt. Jones, a spokesperson for the New Jersey State Police, confirmed that a bullet was found which struck the siding of Dobbs’ house. However, he pointed out that Dobbs’ residence is located in a “very rural” area. “With hunting season starting up,” such incidents are “not at all uncommon,” Jones told us.
Nonetheless, anti-immigrant groups are already claiming that “the lies and hate coming from these radical pro-illegal alien groups is now manifesting in the form of gunfire.” Dobbs was quick to start pointing fingers at Fox News’ Geraldo Rivera and “ethnocentric interest groups” for “creating an atmosphere” that led to a shot being fired at his house:
I’m thinking about these lies, that I wasn’t going to respond to — but Geraldo now has just pushed it over. I gotta tell you the lies of the ethnocentric interest groups like LULAC, La Raza, MALDEF, America’s Voice — funded basically by George Soros — all attacking me because as they put it, or as Geraldo put it I’m the only thing standing between those open borders and unconditional amnesty for illegal immigrants. So they want to destroy me and they’re taking their best shot at it believe me…They’ve created an atmosphere and they’ve been unrelenting in their propaganda.
It’s became a part of a way of life: the anger, the hate, the vitriol. But it’s taken a different tone. They threaten my wife. They’ve now fired a shot at my house…My wife and I have now been shot at, my driver, my house has been shot and hit…I’m not in the mood to put up with little fools like Geraldo Rivera.
Listen:
The New Jersey State Police’s investigation has not progressed to the point where it can confirm or deny Dobbs’ allegations. However, considering the fact that Dobbs has “repeatedly amplified the falsehood that undocumented immigrants are disproportionately violent,” it’s no surprise that he immediately connected the incident at his home to the immigration debate.
A report by the Leadership Conference on Civil Rights Education Fund revealed a close correlation between the “shrill anti-immigration reform commentaries” of Dobbs and other media personalities and a growing number of hate crimes against Latinos and “perceived immigrants.”
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‘Nativist Extremist’ Minuteman PAC Endorses Hoffman For Congress
‘Nativist Extremist’ Minuteman PAC Endorses Hoffman For Congress
Doug Hoffman, the Conservative Party candidate for New York’s traditionally Republican 23rd District, has just won the right-wing support of the Minuteman Political Action Committee — the political action arm of a “nativist extremist” armed vigilante group. The Minuteman PAC is currently running Independent Expenditure radio spots and predicts that Hoffman is “positioned to win a landslide victory” over Republican Party nominee Dede Scozzafava.
The Minuteman PAC’s Hoffman ad claims Scozzafava and Democratic candidate Bill Owens are tied directly to “the left-wing social agenda”:
You already know about ACORN — the corrupt organization scamming your tax dollars to promote a radical left agenda. And you’ve seen videos where Acorn officials offer to help a teenage prostitution ring involving illegal aliens. Now blogger Michele Malkin exposes yet another Acorn scandal: subsidized mortgages for illegal aliens. Acorn must be stopped, but how?
Two candidates for Congress, Dede Scozzafava and Bill Owens, are tied directly to Acorn and their far left-wing socialist agenda. That’s why voters all over Central New York and the North country are backing Doug Hoffman for Congress. Doug Hoffman is a CPA — a solid conservative and the only candidate for Congress opposed to amnesty and government handouts for illegal aliens. And only Hoffman will stand up to Acorn and the liberals. The choice is clear: Doug Hoffman for Congress — the wake-up call politicians in both parties need now.
Listen here:
The Minuteman PAC proclaims that it’s “THE ONE Political Action Committee that the open-borders, pro-amnesty lobby fears most,” but has been widely criticized for hoarding money and spending only a small fraction of its funds on political candidates.
However, Hoffman’s website indicates that he’s actually opposed to putting up a wall to “stop all immigration.” “The answer is to create an easier path for immigrants to enter the United States – and to work here,” says his immigration platform. Agriculture is one of central New York’s main industries and many farmers depend on migrant labor. The New York Farm Bureau has expressed “deep disappointment” in “the failure of Congress…to come up with an immigration reform measure that addresses the pressing labor needs of agriculture in New York and across the nation.”
Lou Dobbs Slams ‘Vile Stupidity And Ignorance’ Of ‘Annoying’ Geraldo Rivera
Lou Dobbs Slams ‘Vile Stupidity And Ignorance’ Of ‘Annoying’ Geraldo Rivera
This afternoon, Lou Dobbs attacked Fox News host Geraldo Rivera for stating that Dobbs himself is “almost single-handedly responsible for creating, for being the architect of the young-Latino-as-scapegoat for everything that ails this country.” While Rivera accuses Dobbs of defaming an entire race of people, Dobbs insists that he loves immigrants and Latinos and claims that his accusations are nothing but a reflection of Rivera’s “stupidity” and the company of “ethnocentric left-wing activists” that he keeps:
DOBBS: I’m just still fuming over something that Geraldo Rivera said. I shouldn’t let — This guy is nothing but a fiction of his own imagination and a figment of whatever he sees in the mirror. But, I gotta tell you — the guy is so annoying. I should not let people get to me like this, but you know what? I’m starting to get short of patience with them. [...]
Geraldo Rivera wouldn’t know a fact if it hit him in the rear end — and that would probably be an appropriate place if you wanted him to absorb the information. … This is the kind of vile stupidity and ignorance that he spews everywhere he goes.
Listen here:
“Over the years, Lou Dobbs has consistently used his CNN platform to spread hatred and fear,” states Drop Dobbs, one of three campaigns aimed at pressuring CNN to hold Dobbs to journalistic standards or drop him altogether. News Corp. is reportedly “keen” on luring Dobbs over to the Fox Business Channel. However if CNN does drop Dobbs, it doesn’t look like he’ll have too many friends over at Fox. Last week, Dobbs ripped Fox Business News anchor John Stossel as a “self-important ass” with his “own brand of myopic idiocy” after Stossel told Fox News’ “rodeo clown” Glenn Beck that he does not support “the Lou Dobbs-kind of rants about immigrants wrecking America.” Rivera says that one of his Fox News bosses assured him that Dobbs “is not coming to Fox News.”
Lou Dobbs Rips Stossel: A ‘Self Important Ass’ With ‘Myopic Idiocy’
Lou Dobbs Rips Stossel: A ‘Self Important Ass’ With ‘Myopic Idiocy’
Yesterday on his radio show, Lou Dobbs slammed Fox Business News correspondent John Stossel for recently denouncing Dobbs’ “rants about immigrants wrecking America.” Dobbs, who claims to love immigrants, ripped Stossel’s “myopic idiocy” and described Beck — who conducted the interview with Stossel — as a “rodeo clown”:
Fox Business News — their new hire John Stossel — weighing in with his own brand of myopic idiocy and no information whatsoever sat down with self-described rodeo clown Glenn Beck…what a self-important ass. … He doesn’t understand basic economics. … He’s just a silly little trick waiting to do some sort of Libertarian flip. [...]
Immigrants wrecking America — I’ve never said anything close to that. As a matter of fact, I embrace immigrants to this country, I welcome them, I want more — and as a matter of public policy, we need them. In no way am I restrictionist, and to hear this ass continue his act over at Fox News. I just can’t wait until he starts blowing bubbles in the air — that’s about all he’s equipped to do.
Listen here:
Besides accusing immigrants of bringing leprosy to the U.S. and promoting the “Aztlan” conspiracy theory that Mexicans are trying to reconquer part of the country, Dobbs has indeed embraced “restrictionist” arguments. In fact, he has called a high-skilled foreign worker visa program an “assault on middle class working men and women” and is quick to refer to anyone who advocates for sensible levels of legal immigration that match the nation’s economic needs “open border lobbyists.” Dobbs has gone so far as to suggest we can realistically deport all undocumented immigrants. Stossel indicated that he doesn’t subscribe to Dobbs’ views on immigration and draws the line at supporting conservatives like him.
Latino and pro-immigrant activists have launched two campaigns, Drop Dobbs and Basta Dobbs, which are aimed at pressuring CNN to “hold Mr. Dobbs to journalistic standards” or dump him altogether.
John Stossel: ‘I Don’t Subscribe To Lou Dobbs-Kind Of Rants About Immigrants Wrecking America’
John Stossel: ‘I Don’t Subscribe To Lou Dobbs-Kind Of Rants About Immigrants Wrecking America’
Latino and pro-immigrant activists have launched two campaigns, Drop Dobbs and Basta Dobbs, which are aimed at pressuring CNN to “hold Mr. Dobbs to journalistic standards” or dump him altogether. Perhaps sensing an opportunity, Fox News’ senior vice president for programming, Bill Shine, is trying to court Dobbs over to Fox’s business channel.
However, it seems not everyone at Fox News will be welcoming Dobbs with open arms. The network’s newest addition, John Stossel, issued some scathing criticisms of Dobbs in a radio interview today with fellow Fox colleague Glenn Beck. Stossel indicated that he doesn’t support conservatives like Dobbs who rail on immigrants. Beck asked Stossel whether he is willing to “throw his vote away” and not vote for a Republican. Stossel firmly held that if “conservative means stop all immigration and some other things that conservatives say,” then he will not vote Republican:
STOSSEL: If it means the Lou Dobbs-kind of rants about immigrants wrecking America, I don’t subscribe to that. I think immigrants by and large do good things for America.
BECK: I think immigrants I think we need more immigrants, ones that want to be Americans because those immigrants are the only ones that are reminding us that we better get off our ass, we’ve got liberty here and we forget about it all the time.
Listen:
Lou Dobbs’ rants include promoting the “Aztlan” conspiracy theory about Mexican immigrants trying to reconquer portions of the American southwest, falsely claiming that immigrants are bringing leprosy to the US, and musing about whether President Obama himself is an “undocumented” immigrant.
Right Wing Activist Launches College Social Networking Site To ‘Smash Left-Wing Scum’ On Campus
Right Wing Activist Launches College Social Networking Site To ‘Smash Left-Wing Scum’ On Campus
Campus Progress reports that Morton Blackwell, founder of the right-wing young adult organization, the Leadership Institute (LI), has launched a new social-networking site for young conservatives called CampusReform. The purpose of the site is to expose “bias” in universities “completely dominated by the left” and give students a forum to report and organize against professors perceived as abusive leftists. Blackwell described the motivation behind his ambitous project to the American Prospect:
“I have had a long-term awareness of how the campuses have become left-wing indoctrination centers, and many, many students can go their entire college educations and never see any representations of conservative principles on their campuses — but they see innumerable amounts of propaganda both in campus curriculum and with speakers and in campus newspapers. It has always bugged me that conservatives have not done likewise.”
In other words, CampusReform’s young conservatives want to “smash left-wing scum,” as Tony Listi, a graduate of Texas A&M, wrote on the site. There is a CampusReform subsite for each of the 2,376 four-year colleges in the US which contains a blog, event listings, membership roster, and “access to a variety of powerful weapons to identify, expose, and combat leftist abuses on campus.” Those weapons consist of a system which allows students to review “biased” textbooks, rate faculty and “hold professors accountable,” report “leftist abuses,” and take a survey to record “specific injustices.” Currently, LI is offering a $100 prize each day in October for reporting “leftist abuse.”
Ken Johnson, a humanities professor at the University of Southern Indiana who was recently flagged by CampusReform as an academic who “continually degrades the Bible,” offers a seperate interpretation. “Students sometimes confuse the presentation of ideas” with his own, Professor Johnson told Campus Progress. “Some students, as soon as their thinking is challenged, the challenger becomes the evil one.”
LI has already bred conservative leaders like chief GOP strategist Karl Rove, Rep. Joe ‘You Lie’ Wilson (R-SC), and Grover Norquist, head of American’s For Tax Reform. CampusReform also proudly points out that James O’Keefe, the “filmmaker” who posed as the pimp that led to the ACORN scandal, attended ten different LI schools in addition to receiving funding from the Institute.
Bush Administration’s Tourist Visa Policy May Have Cost America The 2016 Olympics
Bush Administration’s Tourist Visa Policy May Have Cost America The 2016 Olympics
In spite of President Obama’s lobbying efforts, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) may have chosen to reject hosting the 2016 summer olympic games in Chicago due to the post-9/11 visa tourist policies established by his predecessor, George W. Bush. Michael Froomkin, Professor at the University of Miami School of Law, is convinced that “the same stupid anti-visitor policy that is destroying American higher education” also sunk Chicago’s Olympic bid. Chicago was eliminated during the first round and received the fewest votes. A New York Times article points out:
In the official question-and-answer session following the Chicago presentation, Syed Shahid Ali, an I.O.C. member from Pakistan, asked the toughest question. He wondered how smooth it would be for foreigners to enter the United States for the Games because doing so can sometimes, he said, be “a rather harrowing experience.”
A “harrowing experience” may be an understatement. Immediately after 9/11, the Bush Administration began requiring fingerprints and photographs of tourists from all but 28 countries entering the US. President Bush required that all foreigners register online within three days of travel. Thirty-five (mostly European) countries now participate in the US Visa Waiver program, however tourists from the rest of the world still have to jump through the following hurdles:
- Pay hefty visa processing and issuance fees.
- Undergo an interview by a visa officer at the US Embassy.
- Provide evidence which shows the purpose of the trip, intent to depart the United States, and arrangements made to cover the costs of the trip may be provided.
- Present convincing evidence that an interested person will provide financial support if the applicant does not have sufficient funds to support him or herself.
The average wait for a US visa has risen to about three months. Brazil, which will host the 2016 Olympic summer games in Rio de Janeiro, has a reciprocal visa policy with all countries. US tourists are required to have a $130 advance visa before entry into the country and are fingerprinted and photographed upon arrival — matching US requirements for Brazilians.
DeMint Defiantly Leads GOP Delegation To Meet With Illegitimate Honduran Post-Coup Government
DeMint Defiantly Leads GOP Delegation To Meet With Illegitimate Honduran Post-Coup Government
Sen. Jim DeMint (R-SC) has announced that he will be visiting Honduras today to meet with the de facto regime of acting Honduran President Roberto Micheletti in sheer defiance of the position taken by the US government and international community. Not a single nation has recognized Micheletti’s government, but Washington Note’s Steve Clemons explains that DeMint is intent on taking Honduran matters into his own hands:
Jim DeMint is acting on behalf of, in cahoots with, and against the foreign policy of the United States of America in encouraging post-coup Honduran government officials defy the United States. He is encouraging a political leadership which has no legitimacy and which not recognized by other democracies in the region — while the ousted President makes cell phone UN General Assembly statements from a couch-bed in the Brazilian Embassy in Tegucigalpa.
The Logan Act forbids “unauthorized citizens” from negotiating with foreign governments. In a 1936 Supreme Court ruling, Justice Sutherland wrote that “the President alone has the power” and “the Senate cannot intrude, and Congress itself is powerless to invade it.”
Since former Honduran President Manuel Zelaya was seized by the military at gunpoint and exiled in his pajamas back in June, the Obama administration — together with the United Nations, European Nations, and the Organization of American States — has collectively addressed the delicate political situation in Honduras by putting pressure on Micheletti’s government to reach a peaceful and democratic solution. So far, the US has cut all non-humanitarian aid to the de facto government and revoked the visas of all civilian and military officials who backed the June 28 coup. The Obama administration is also making a deliberate effort to repair critical relations with Latin America by reversing Washington’s “historic tendency” of welcoming and backing coups waged against democratically-elected leaders, such as Zelaya, who are critical of the U.S.
Senate Foreign Relations Chairman John Kerry (D-MA) attempted to block approval of DeMint’s self-described “fact-finding trip,” citing the defiant role DeMint has taken in attempting to alter US policy on Honduras by brazenly blocking the confirmations of Arturo Valenzuela, Obama’s nominee to be assistant secretary of state for Western Hemisphere affairs, and Thomas A. Shannon Jr., the nominee to be ambassador to Brazil. However, Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-KY) interfered and appealed to the Defense Department to provide an airplane for DeMint and his delegation, which the Pentagon allowed. DeMint will be joined by US Reps. Aaron Schock (R-IL), Peter Roskam (R-IL), and Doug Lamborn (R-CO). Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-FL) will be visiting Honduras on Monday. Ros-Lehtinen and the congressmen plan on meeting with Micheletti, members of the Honduran Supreme Court, election officials, and Honduran business and civic leaders. However, they are snubbing Zelaya who recently returned to Honduras and took refuge in the Brazilian Embassy in Tegucigalpa.
Perhaps the public relations firm Chlopak, Leonard, Schechter & Associates — which Micheletti’s regime hired to “bolster its image in Washington” — helped convince DeMint to overlook the fact that Micheletti has suspended constitutional guarantees to civil liberties, including freedom of assembly and freedom of the press. Meanwhile, the U.N. Human Rights Council has unanimously called for an immediate end to all human rights violations in Honduras on behalf of the de facto government.
"Sen DeMint did not announce that to the New York Times, they did not get that from our office. They did not speak to staff members from our office that I know of -- they certainly did not talk to me...He's not in support of any particular politician. He supports democracy, the rule of law and the constitution of Honduras, and he wants to see a quick resolution to the crisis, one that allows the Honduran people to resolve it through a democratic and transparent process."
After First Laughing Off Recession, Gov. Perry Admits ‘This Whole Country’s In A Recession’
After First Laughing Off Recession, Gov. Perry Admits ‘This Whole Country’s In A Recession’
Just a couple days after Gov. Rick Perry (R-TX) touted that his state was “recession proof” and callously suggested that Texas wasn’t even in a recession, Perry changed his tune in an interview with ThinkProgress at this weekend’s Value Voters Summit.
On Saturday, Perry acknowledged that Texas has been “absolutely” impacted by a recession that plagues the whole country and accuses Washington of pushing his state farther into it:
This whole country’s in a recession. You don’t lose the number of jobs that we’ve lost in this country — and Texas has been impacted too. But, there’s no doubt that the impact is substantially less on Texas because of the policies that we’ve put in place. You better believe it — every family, every person who’s lost a job is a reflection of some policy, generally speaking policies that have come out of Washington, DC…
But you ask any people in the country which state would you rather economically be in than any other one, they rather be in Texas. We balanced our budget, we gave 40,000 small businesses a tax cut and we’re working towards having 9 billion dollars in our rainy day fund. In anybody’s estimation, that’s good economic policy that’s been put in place. Are we worried about what Washington’s doing and the impact that it’s having on the state of Texas and the recession that it’s pushing Texas farther into? Absolutely.
Watch it:
Perry admitted that Texas has been “shedding jobs” in the oil and gas industries and pins the blame on federal decision-makers. And while he considered rejecting “burden[some]” stimulus money and continues slamming Washington’s response to the recession, the Fort Worth Star-Telegram reports that Texas was only able to balance its budget and pad its rainy day fund because of “an infusion of about $12.1 billion in [federal] stimulus funds” which “saved the day.”
Mrs. Joe Wilson: My husband is the “nut” who “hollered out, ‘you lie.’”
Mrs. Joe Wilson: My husband is the “nut” who “hollered out, ‘you lie.’”
Politico reports that Rep. Joe Wilson’s (R-SC) wife, Roxanne Wilson, admitted that she couldn’t believe her husband was “the nut” who shouted “you lie” during President Obama’s speech before a joint session of Congress last week. In a campaign video in support of her husband’s reelection, Roxanne explains:
“I watched the speech. Joe called me after the speech on Wednesday night and I said, ‘Joe who’s the nut who hollered out “you lie,” “you liar”?’ And he goes, ‘It was me.’ And I said, ‘No really! Who did it?’ I couldn’t believe that Joe would say that!”
Watch it:
Mrs. Wilson, who met her husband at teenage Republican camp, said that Joe “is very passionate” and that he doesn’t deserve the treatment he’s been getting from Congress.” She’s not worried though, stating “he’ll be fine.”
U.S. Forest Service warns against campers drinking Tecate beer, eating tortillas, and playing Spanish music.
U.S. Forest Service warns against campers drinking Tecate beer, eating tortillas, and playing Spanish music.
The Wonk Room reports that the US Forest Service issued and then retracted a Labor Day warning advising hikers to beware of campers in national forests speaking Spanish, drinking Tecate beer, eating tortillas, spam or tuna, and playing Spanish music because “they could be armed marijuana growers.” Polly Baca of the Colorado Latino Forum accused the U.S. Forest Service of racial profiling and said the warning is discriminatory. Julien Ross, Executive Director of the Colorado Immigrant Rights Coalition, added:
All Coloradans, and in particular elected lawmakers, should restrain from blaming entire communities for the acts of a few individuals…lawmakers concerned about the drug trade would be better served focusing on lessening the demand for drugs in their local district than scapegoating immigrants.
Hank Kashdan, associate chief of the U.S. Forest Service, later apologized on behalf of his colleagues.
Bachmann: We should ‘make a covenant, to slit our wrists, be blood brothers’ against health care reform.
Bachmann: We should ‘make a covenant, to slit our wrists, be blood brothers’ against health care reform.
Yesterday, Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-MN) delivered a “speech filled with urgent and violent rhetoric” at a gathering sponsored by the Independence Institute in Denver. During what was originally billed as a “personal legislative briefing,” Bachmann “got downright biblical” when describing her unwavering opposition to health care reform:
“This [health care reform] cannot pass…What we have to do today is make a covenant, to slit our wrists, be blood brothers on this thing. This will not pass. We will do whatever it takes to make sure this doesn’t pass…Right now, we are looking at reaching down the throat and ripping the guts out of freedom. And we may never be able to restore it if we don’t man up and take this one on.”
According to the Colorado Independent, Bachmann also claimed that many Americans pay more than half their income in taxes, adding “it’s nothing more than slavery.” She affirmed that “you’re either for us or against us on this issue” and bragged about being the country’s “second-most hated Republican woman.” Rather than spending quality time in her home district during August recess, some speculate that Bachmann’s trip signals her “branching out” and sowing some “rich, right-wing Western soil” in preparation for a future national run.
Joe The Plumber Says He Would ‘Beat The Livin’ Tar’ Out Of Pelosi
Joe The Plumber Says He Would ‘Beat The Livin’ Tar’ Out Of Pelosi
This past weekend, at the right wing’s RightOnline blogger conference in Pittsburgh — sponsored by Americans for Prosperity — Alternet’s Adele Stan reported that Joe “the Plumber” Wurzelbacher attacked Nancy Pelosi for calling teabaggers “un-American.” (In fact, Pelosi said “drowning out opposing views is un-American.”) Wurzelbacher said that in the good ol’ days, he would have been able to physically “beat” Pelosi:
WURZELBACHER: For Pelosi to write about us bein’ un-American and disprespectful — I’ll tell ya what: I respect nobody who lies to me and manipulates me and takes my money and puts my children in debt. They want me to be respectful towards them? Please! You know, I’m not the most civilized person: Those kind of people, I usually took behind the woodshed and just beat the livin’ tar out of ‘em.
(UPDATE: Crooks and Liars has the video.)
Joe reiterated his statement in an interview with Stan after his speech:
STAN: There’s a lot of talk about fears of violence in these town hall meetings, and you know there was a guy who showed up with a gun strapped to his leg in New Hampshire — and I’m wondering what you have to say to that narrative?
WURZELBACHER: Let me start off by saying that I don’t advocate the violence, however, that being said, Congress has been lying to us for years. They take advantage of us, they manipulate us, and years ago people like that would’ve been taken behind the woodshed and slapped upside the head a couple times. I’m not telling people to go out and do that and I don’t advocate that if we can make our point through facts.
Listen:
For someone who doesn’t advocate violence, Joe sure spends a lot of time talking about it. A few months ago, he told Think Progress that anyone who criticized the military would’ve been shot “back in the day” and that he’d personally like to slap around anyone who “talked treasonous talk about America.”
New Hampshire right-wing protester suggests sending ‘illegals’ home with a ‘bullet in their head.’
New Hampshire right-wing protester suggests sending ‘illegals’ home with a ‘bullet in their head.’
The New Hampshire Republican Volunteer Coalition urged its members to make their voices heard today in Portsmouth, NH outside of a high school where President Obama was discussing health care reform. Sure enough, right-wing protesters came out not just in protest of health care, but also furiously offering the suggestion that undocumented immigrants should be sent back to their home countries with “a bullet in their head.”
“Why are we bankrupting this country for 21 million illegals who should be sent on the first bus one way back from wherever they come from. We don’t need illegals. Send them home once. Send them home with a bullet in their head the second time. Read what Jefferson said about the Tree of Liberty — it’s coming baby.”
Watch it:
Right-wing protesters have been inspiring each other by referencing this 1787 quote by Thomas Jefferson: “The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots and tyrants.” One Portsmouth protester also held a sign which read “It Is Time To Water The Tree Of Liberty.”
Tom Tancredo says ‘Sonia Mayer’ appointment could indicate that Obama is racist.
Tom Tancredo says ‘Sonia Mayer’ appointment could indicate that Obama is racist.
Last night, former Rep. Tom Tancredo (R-CO) went on The Ed Schultz show to tacitly defend Glenn Beck’s statements on President Obama’s perceived “hatred of white people.” Tancredo further claimed that Obama’s appointment of “Sonia Mayer” could serve as an indication that he is in fact a racist:
TANCREDO: I do not know if he has a hatred for white people. I can say that his [Obama] statements and his appointment of someone I do believe to be a racist, “Sonia Mayer,” for her racial views by the way — that is an indication, that could be used as an indication by some, that he is indeed a racist. Because it’s depending on what you use as a definition.
Watch it:
Back in May, Tancredo called Judge Sonia Sotomayor a “racist” member of the Latino KKK, otherwise known as National Council of La Raza — the nation’s largest Latino civil rights and advocacy organization. He has been accused of racism himself for warning that immigration “threatens western civilization.” And he even blasted the pope for his pro-immigrant positions. At the end of the segment last night, Tancredo claimed that Schultz could be accused of hate speech for his attacks on Beck and that he would be “affronted” by the mere suggestion that he might have a “deep-seeded hatred for the Latino community.”
G. Gordon Liddy says Obama is an ‘illegal alien’ born in a ‘hospital in Mombasa.’
G. Gordon Liddy says Obama is an ‘illegal alien’ born in a ‘hospital in Mombasa.’
G. Gordon Liddy, the man behind the first Watergate break-in and founding father of the “wacko wing” of the Republican party is now claiming that President Obama is an “undocumented illegal alien.” This afternoon, an oddly “catatonoic” Liddy told Chris Matthews that he has a written deposition from President Obama’s step-grandmother where she says that Obama was born in a hospital in Mombasa:
MATTHEWS: He [Obama] wasn’t born here and he’s never gone through a naturalization that you know of, right?
LIDDY: Not that I know of.
MATTHEWS: Therefore he’s here illegally. You’re saying he’s an undocumented alien.
LIDDY: Illegal alien.
MATTHEWS: You’ve said he was born in the Kenyan slums. That means he’s an illegal alien. That means he’s not only illegally president, he’s illegal in the US and he ought to be picked up…by your account he’s illegally in the country…how would you claim he was born in the Kenyan slums? You say that as if it were a fact…Do we have any evidence it ever happened?…
LIDDY: Yeah, I’ve got the deposition of the step-grandmother who said she witnessed it.
Watch it:
Liddy is the promoter of several anti-immigrant conspiracy theories. Last year, he claimed that immigrants come from Mexico because “they want to reconquer America.” When discussing the Supreme Court nomination of Judge Sonia Sotomayor earlier this year, Liddy criticized her membership in the Latino civil rights group, National Council of La Raza. He said La Raza, in “illegal alien,” [Spanish] means “race.”
What Liddy was referring to is actually an affidavit filed by a street preacher named Ron McRae, who conducted an interview with Sarah Obama, the second wife of President Obama's grandfather, through a translator. (Sarah Obama is not the president's biological grandmother, but he calls her "Granny Sarah.")In that interview, Sarah Obama does in fact say at one point that she was there for her grandson's birth. But that was a mistake, a confusion in translation. As soon as a jubilant McRae began to press her for further details about her grandson being born in Kenya, the family realized the mistake and corrected him. And corrected him. And corrected him. (The audio is available for download here.)
Dobbs wonders whether President Obama is undocumented.
Dobbs wonders whether President Obama is undocumented.
Today, Political Wire posted a clip of an episode of Lou Dobbs’ radio show in which he not only questions President Obama’s citizenship and promotes the bizarre right-wing “birther” theory, but also insinuates that Obama might be undocumented:
DOBBS: I’m starting to think we have a document issue. You suppose he’s un — no, I won’t even use the word undocumented, it wouldn’t be right.
In an exchange with a caller, Dobbs agrees that Obama’s entire presidency and all his actions could be deemed “illegal.” Listen here:
President Obama has, in fact, presented a digitally scanned image of his birth certificate that includes a raised seal and the signature stamp of Hawaii state registrar, Alvin T. Onaka. While guest-hosting Lou Dobb’s own television show, CNN’s Kitty Pilgrim said there is “no basis” for the birther theory. Dobbs has called the document “peculiar” and continues demanding that Obama present a “long form” birth certificate to prove his citizenship. At least Dobbs isn’t calling anyone an “illegal alien” anymore.
Tancredo tells young conservatives to halt immigration at Summit on Radical Islam.
Tancredo tells young conservatives to halt immigration at Summit on Radical Islam.
This past weekend at the Young America’s Foundation’s Summit on Radical Islam, former Rep. Tom Tancredo (R-CO) once again advocated for an immigration policy that closes the nation’s doors to all foreign workers, regardless of their skill-level. When one young UCLA conservative questioned whether it would actually be wise to turn away the high-skilled labor of other countries, Tancredo said he’d like to “try” shutting off all immigration:
QUESTION: We’re still really strapped — we don’t have nurses, we don’t have enough teachers, we don’t have enough OB-GYNs…So isn’t it a little maybe narr — I’m not saying narrow-minded — but maybe not looking at the picture accurately if you say we can just shut off all immigration?
TANCREDO: Well…[Laughs]…I’d like to give it a try. [More laughing].
Watch it:
Tancredo is an honorary chairman of Youth for Western Civilization and accepted over $20,000 in donations from eugenecist John Tanton during his failed 2008 presidential campaign. Though many attribute his loss and the GOP’s overall defeat to the anti-immigrant platforms that he and several other Republicans espoused, Tancredo continues to defy the advice of some of his brightest party members by singing the only “tune” he knows. Several Republican leaders and strategists have indicated that the GOP must clean up its rhetoric and views on immigration if it hopes to endure.
Venezuelan president floats the possibility of Obama assassination.
Venezuelan president floats the possibility of Obama assassination.
This past Sunday, Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez broadcasted a series of anti-Obama comments over his “Alo Presidente!” show, at one point even toying with the possibility that President Obama might be assassinated. The Hill quotes Chavez:
On the “imperial” U.S. forces that Chavez thinks killed JFK: “I hope they do not kill Obama, because Obama is biting off more than he can chew.”
Chavez also demanded that Obama “stop dithering” on the military takeover of Honduras. Obama, however, has strongly condemned the Honduran coup and “diffused” Chavez’ charges. Earlier this year, Chavez called Obama a “poor ignoramus” who has the “same stench as Bush.” Obama, however, has vowed to turn a new page in hemispheric relations and it seems that, for the most part, Latin American leaders and their constituents believe him.
Sen. Jeff Sessions Slams Sotomayor For Not Voting Like Other Puerto Ricans
Sen. Jeff Sessions Slams Sotomayor For Not Voting Like Other Puerto Ricans
This morning, Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-AL) castigated Sotomayor for not ruling with her fellow Puerto Rican colleague, conservative Judge José A. Cabranes, when she decided to deny an en banc appeal in Ricci v. DeStefano, a process in which all judges of a court hear a case (as opposed to a three-judge panel of them). Sessions seemed to indicate that people of the same ancestry should vote the same way:
SESSIONS: You voted not to reconsider the prior case. You voted to stay with the decision of the circuit. And in fact your vote was the key vote. Had you voted with Judge Cabranes, himself of Puerto Rican ancestry, had you voted with him, you could’ve changed that case.
Watch it:
Sessions slammed Sotomayor as being “unsuitable for the bench” due to her past affiliation with the Puerto Rican Legal Defense and Education Fund (PRLDEF). Apparently, Sessions didn’t realize that Judge Cabranes also served on PRLDEF’s board.
Sessions, a former prosecutor and attorney general in his home state, was nominated to serve as a federal judge by President Ronald Reagan in 1986. Maybe he’s just bitter that he was denied a seat on the federal bench by the Senate Judiciary Committee in a 9-9 vote which deemed him “grossly insensitive” on racial issues. During his own hearings, Sessions admitted to “frequently joking in an off-color sort of way.” Looks like not much has changed.
TP’s Ian Millhiser is live-blogging today’s hearings. Check out his coverage here.
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