The Penatagon has unequivocally dismissed the lies of FAUX News, Rush Limbaugh, Glenn Beck, and all the other crazy rightwing asshats spreading these idiotic rumors. These lying liars have spread these idiotic rumors and their listeners believe them without any critical thinking.
They are all lies. Lies! There is not a scintilla of proof to any of this. None.
And those who believes FAUX News or Limbaugh or Beck are plainly and simply stupid and should have their walking papers revoked because they are too dumb to be on the streets.
FAUX News: Lying to you and keeping you stupid! Turn it off!
From Jay Bookman:
"Credibility no longer matters. Truth no longer matters.
And shame? Shame at being caught selling ridiculous falsehoods and lies? Hah!
Right-wing bloggers, media and politicians have seized on a report on an Indian Internet site, supposedly based on an anonymous estimate from an Indian government official, that President Obama will be spending $200 million a day on his India trip.
Now think about the impossibility of that. Two hundred million bucks a day? As Factcheck.org points out, the entire U.S. war effort in Afghanistan — where we have to arm, equip and provision roughly 100,000 troops in a hostile, barren environment — costs us $190 million a day. The claim is simply too ridiculous to be contemplated, let alone believed.
Yet as the clip from Fox Business News demonstrates, the absurdity quickly became fuel for the vast right-wing outrage machine. (My favorite part above is where the outraged host, the genius Eric Bolling, insists: “I will tell you unequivocably, I am not making this up, this has been reported, go to the Internet, go take a look.” Really, they gave this guy a microphone and TV time?)
Drudge picked it up. Sean Hannity jumped in on it. Rush Limbaugh has been spreading the meme. U.S. Rep. Michele Bachmann went on CNN to condemn the expenditure. And the blogosphere? Oh the lunacy!
I guess I shouldn’t be surprised. If you’re willing to believe that Obama is a Kenyan Marxist-fascist-anticolonialist black racist who hates America and plots its destruction, what won’t you believe?"
Is it clear now why President Obama is subject to the fear mongering, lies, rumors, and absurdities that are all over hate radio, the internet, and blogs? Is it clear now why after 8 years of failed policies a number of American people returned the people who brought us this disaster to a majority in the House?
It's certainly clear to me.
Minnesota's egregious embarrassment of a US Representative Michelle Bachmann repeats the lie and is too moronic to check to see if what she's repeating has any basis in fact. It doesn't but that has not stopped the nincompoop Bachmann from keeping the lie going. FactCheck.org weighs in on the stupidity of Bachmann and all the other rightwing liars:
"It sure sounds outrageous. On his upcoming presidential trip to India, President Barack Obama is bringing an entourage of 3,000, staying in swanky hotels, guarded by an armada of Navy ships -- costing American taxpayers the staggering sum of $200 million a day.
To say this figure -- $200 million a day -- has made the rounds in the blogosphere would be a huge understatement. It has been repeated by nearly every conservative pundit in the land: Hannity, Limbaugh, Beck, Drudge. Always with a healthy dose of indignation.
It also got picked up by U.S. Rep. Michele Bachmann, R-Minn., who told CNN's Anderson Cooper on Nov. 3, 2010, it was just the latest example of government excess and spending from the Obama administration.
"The president of the United States will be taking a trip over to India that is expected to cost the taxpayers $200 million a day," Bachmann said. "He's taking 2,000 people with him.
He will be renting out over 870 rooms in India. And these are five-star hotel rooms at the Taj Mahal Palace Hotel. This is the kind of over-the-top spending. It's a very small example, Anderson.
"And I think this is an example of the massive overspending that we have seen, not only just in the last two years, really in the last four. That's what we saw at the ballot box last evening."
Again, $200 million a day sounds outrageous. But is it true?
The White House says, emphatically, that it's not.
"Due to security concerns, we are unable to outline details associated with security procedures and costs, but it’s safe to say these numbers are wildly inflated," said White House spokeswoman Kate Bedingfield.
Cooper asked Bachmann how she came up with the number.
"These are the numbers that have been coming out in the press," Bachmann said.
Actually it's a figure that came from just one source, a news agency in India, relying on an anonymous source. It was then repeated thousands more times in the blogosphere and over conservative airwaves.
The claim that the U.S. would be spending "a whopping $200 million per day" on Obama's visit to Mumbai, India, originated in a report from the news agency Press Trust of India. It was an estimate attributed anonymously to "a top official of the Maharashtra Government privy to the arrangements for the high-profile visit." Maharashtra is a state located in western India.
Here's what the story said:
"The huge amount of around $200 million would be spent on security, stay and other aspects of the Presidential visit," a top official of the Maharashtra Government privy to the arrangements for the high-profile visit said.
About 3,000 people including Secret Service agents, U.S. government officials and journalists would accompany the President. Several officials from the White House and U.S. security agencies are already here for the past one week with helicopters, a ship and high-end security instruments.
Said Bedingfield: "The numbers reported in this article have no basis in reality."
Now it's true that overseas travel by presidents can be expensive, said Kelley Gannon, who worked on the press advance team for George H. W. Bush and was director of press advance for George W. Bush. "You have to re-create a mini White House."
But pegging an exact cost has long been an elusive task for news reporters."
4 comments:
Patty Murray was just declared winner in Washington!
The wingnuts, the republican party, are beyond stupid. They believe whatever is on the internet is to be factual and their gospel. Michelle Bachmann going on CNN spewing such STUPIDITY then STUPIDLY saying 'well it's being reported all over the internet". Good fuckin lordy these people are elected by morons who are just like them! It's so pathetic all we can do is laugh...
Ya know those emails people get from the UK telling Americans they have won the lottery and all they need to do is give them their bank account number? All the ones duped into believing such crap are WINGNUTS!!!
How much did it cost to tie up an aircraft carrier and a jet so that GWB could land on it and announce "Mission Accomplished"
The real costs of that were alot greaater than the real costs of this trip...
Thanks for highlighting this issue. The lies and the stupid have to stop!
Michelle Bachman used to walk the streets in her youth as a paid sex worker. Someone said her BJ's cost $40 and if you let her talk while "working" she's discount that $10.
It's true. I read it on the Internet and then I saw that same story on a blog the night of the election. Why don't these things get out before she's re-elected! It's outrageous.
What the lying ___ [choose your favorite word here] is trying is to blackmail the main stream sitting GOP by telling them if they don't put her in a leadership position in the House she will gather 25 newly elected congress members and hold up anything the GOP tries to do.
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