I document these atrocities that certain groups on the right continue to spread because of the fundamental damage I believe they do to our politics and to our country.
Recently, the rightwing blogsphere spread the most slanderously vile lies about First Lady Michelle Obama. None of the calumny is based on fact, but instead, on some filthy lie which these demented people THINK or IMAGINE she said to her husband, the president, during memorial services for September 11.
I thought the disrespect and hatred that First Lady Hillary Clinton endured from the rightwing while her husband was in the White House was monsterous, but they now seem tame compared to the Right's all-out malignant campaign to defile Michelle Obama that the GOP and its lackeys promote.
Here is the latest sewerage coming from the Right (via Media Matters).
"Right-Wing Lip Readers Take Michelle Obama Derangement Syndrome To A Whole New Level
Before today, when the right-wing media made up quotations to attack progressives, they at least had some audio to misinterpret. But now, they are reduced to lip-reading.
The Washington Times' senior editorial writer for foreign affairs James Robbins and right-wingbloggersare claiming that Michelle Obama likely disparaged the American flag during a ceremony commemorating the 9/11 attacks.
They have posted video of Michelle Obama whispering something inaudible to her husband during the ceremony and are speculating that she said "all this just for a flag," "all that for a flag," or "all of this for a damn flag." (They disagree on exactly what she said.)
Blogger Jim Hoft, still in the running for the Dumbest Man on the Internet, didn't even have the confidence to type the fake Michelle Obama quotation himself. He instead provided a link to an American Thinker post making the accusation for him.
The video the bloggers have posted has no audio of Michelle Obama at the relevant point, and their lip-reading is hindered by the fact that Michelle Obama's lips disappear behind a partition at one point:
The Washington Times' senior editorial writer for foreign affairs James Robbins and right-wingbloggersare claiming that Michelle Obama likely disparaged the American flag during a ceremony commemorating the 9/11 attacks.
They have posted video of Michelle Obama whispering something inaudible to her husband during the ceremony and are speculating that she said "all this just for a flag," "all that for a flag," or "all of this for a damn flag." (They disagree on exactly what she said.)
Blogger Jim Hoft, still in the running for the Dumbest Man on the Internet, didn't even have the confidence to type the fake Michelle Obama quotation himself. He instead provided a link to an American Thinker post making the accusation for him.
The video the bloggers have posted has no audio of Michelle Obama at the relevant point, and their lip-reading is hindered by the fact that Michelle Obama's lips disappear behind a partition at one point:
But they still believe Michelle Obama must have said something extremely controversial. We leave you with the ramblingsof Debbie Schlussel, who seems to believe it doesn't matter what Michelle Obama said, because we all know what "she's thinkin' ":
"I can't really tell for sure, but a number of people are abuzz about this video of Michelle LaVaughn Robinson Hussein Obama Idi Amin Dada. The consensus seems to be that the First Ms. Thang is saying to hubby Barack, "All of this for a damn flag." (She said this about the American flag -- you know the one brave men died for.) Wouldn't be surprised if that's what she said because we know she hates America and previously said she wasn't proud of our country until Obama had a chance to become Prez. Looks like that's what she said, but I can't tell for sure. I would need a deaf person or other expert lip reader to confirm. Watch and see if you agree (like I said, even if she didn't say exactly that, we know she's thinkin' it)."
So this Schlussel entity speaks for the rightwing in knowing what Mrs. Obama thinks? And they project their hatred of America onto the First Lady in doing so. For they do harm to our country in spreading and encouraging this malicious branding of a First Lady.
And I will invoke Godwin's law right now in stating that these sorts of character assassinations are the same sort of tactics the Nazis used in dehumanizing Jews in the 1930s. There is nothing this admirable woman does that earns her any respect from these people because they made up their spongiformed brains right from the beginning to hate and demean her and her family.
THIS IS WHAT THEY SEND AROUND IN EMAILS:
31 comments:
I literally felt embarrassed for my country when word got out that I broke the law and disgraced America by torturing our prisoners.
We literally felt embarrassed for our country when the entire world saw US President George W. Bush behaved like a junior high schooler and give a noogie to German Chancellor Angela Merkle.
Radical Redneck, as usual you're living in a conservative dream world when you refer to Cheney as "one of the most esteemed statesman"[sic].
When Cheney left office in 2009 his poll numbers were less than 25%.
Only you and other conservatives who create their own reality would call a man "esteemed" when 75% of the US thought he was a despicable liar and miscreant.
You and your ilk prove once again that you are MIA from the real world.
Your ignorant statement blaming the Obama Administration for the lowering of the credit rating is wrong. But who's surprised. You're attracted to the party that is proudly anti-science and anti-intelligence.
S&P specifically blamed the GOP:
“We have changed our assumption on this because the majority of Republicans in Congress continue to resist any measure that would raise revenues,” wrote S&P. That adds $4 trillion over ten years to the projected deficits."
Shaw, I am speechless...
Radical, do you find any of the images here offensive or racially motivated?
Schlussel is just envious because Michelle Obama has actually accomplished things and gotten somewhere in life, while she spends her time making up things for lunatics to get angry about.
Admittedly Schlussel hasn't actually said this, but I know she's thinking it.
Godwin's Law doesn't apply to truth, btw. I shudder to think of what's coming down the pike. And RR is a perfect example of why.
Infidel, shaw, leslie...
Why should we be surprised? We long ago left behind the belief that the actual words someone says are what matters, as opposed to what he was supposedly saying behind those words.
Unfortunately, both sides, to some degree, are guilty of this, think "code" words that supposedly mean something else to those that understand the code.
All of you know as well as anyone else, that it is not what you actually say, or even write... it is how someone interprets those words that is more truthful than what you say.
Is it any wonder we've arrived to this point? Maybe Michelle Obama did say "All this for a flag?"
So what? Maybe she was amazed and with inflection was noticing something very honorable.
Of course, it is hard to give the benefit of the doubt to a group that does not rebuke people who cheer for death, post pictures like you have here, and have such outward disdain for our President.
Lest any of the trolls try and equate this with the treatment GW Bush got, let's be honest about this... GW Bush did not leave office with the Presidency being weaker because of constant carping from the left.
But when President Obama leaves office, hopefully in 2016, the office will have been permanently damaged as a result of the actions of the right.
Patriots indeed...
pff
Dave,
One of the images I chose not to publish was actually linked to by Radical Redneck. He's one of the worst offenders when it comes to spreading around the blogsphere racist photos of the Obamas.
BDC,
We feel your shame.
Dear tpoteUSA,
That certainly was a low point in this country's history.
Infidel753,
You've hit it with that observation. I think a lot of these people are uncomfortable with knowing the Obamas have accomplished so much more in their lives than people like Schlussel have.
Leslie,
I bring up what the Nazis did to dehumanize the Jews, because it seems to be what the far right does to the liberals--calling us vermin and saying liberalism is a disease. What do you do to vermin? You exterminate them.
Dave,
I don't know of any progressive people I visit that use code words; they usually say exactly what they mean.
I'm afraid that if a Republican recaptures the WH, we'll see an escalation of this sort of thing from the far left, and nothing will get done.
[To be accurate and historical, though, many Democrats helped GWB pass much of his legislative agenda. We cannot say this about the current GOPers. So I'm not so sure there is equivalency here--that the liberals "did it too."
I fear we will be reduced to a nation constantly at each other's throats--perhaps until someday we actually take up arms against our fellow citizens.
That's how bleak I see this.
Can we all agree that no matter what Mr. or Mrs. Obama does, the GOP will find some stupifying idiocy to disparage them?
The righties hate to hear the term "racism" applied to their disgusting actions, but, seriously, there's no other explanation.
They're racist.
They've made up some terrible slander about what they think Mrs. Obama said in a video?
Would they have done this to a white First Lady?
Of course not.
The Republican Party is essentially a group of southern racist slags.
The Obamas outclass them in all instances, and they can't deal with that reality.
did that radical r. guy read the comments attached to the link he posted...here's one for r.r. to read...
So uh Mr. VP Cheney, did you find those WMD's in Iraq yet? Did you know they never existed and spent trillions of borrowed money protecting the lie? Is it true you bribed the Nigerian Government on behalf of Halliburton?
Long after you are gone America will still be paying of your wars, people are sleeping in their cars and under bridges, no one can find a job, veterans are killing themselves, and all you feel ashamed of is the credit rating? And then there is the whole rendition, torture, and Guantanamo thing to consider. And what about giving AT@T immunity to spy on your fellow Americans? The only question that needs to be asked is if America is better of now or before you took office. Here's a hint, ask the unemployed!!!!! !!BY still looking on 09/14/2011 at 14:10
Anon and Anon,
I understand Glenn Beck weighed in on this filthy lie as well and speculated that the First Lady disparaged the flag.
I also read that a hearing- impaired person saw Beck's lips moving and swore Beck mouthed that he has converted to communism and socialism and that he walks around with gerbils in his jockey shorts.
It must be true. Someone imagined he said it!
Anon: "So uh Mr. VP Cheney, did you find those WMD's in Iraq yet?"
Actually, they did find WMD from the first Gulf War after the US invaded in 2003.
"Did you know they never existed and spent trillions of borrowed money protecting the lie?"
1) It was the truth.
2) Only about one trillion has been spent.
The racist pictures are one thing. But flat-out lying about Iraq is another, Anon.
The Washington Post disputes your claim, dmarks. Where did you get your info? Here's the report from the WaPo:
The true cost of the Iraq war: $3 trillion and beyond
And here is President George W. Bush (in his own words), the man who sent the US to war with Iraq on false reports of WMDs:
"BUSH: Now, look, I -- part of the reason we went into Iraq was -- the main reason we went into Iraq at the time was we thought he had weapons of mass destruction. It turns out he didn't, but he had the capacity to make weapons of mass destruction...
BTW, dmarks, those WMDs--the chemical weapons found scattered around Iraq after the invasion? They were given to Saddam Hussein by the US when Iraq was fighting Iran.
How exactly was Iraq going to use the chemical weapons we supplied him against the US? Did Hussein have the capacity to place the chemicals on a missile and send it to the US?
"Today, the Saddam Hussein regime is being condemned for its continued clandestine quest for weapons of mass destruction. Iraq's appetite for these weapons was, in fact, whetted by the West. France supplied the Osirak nuclear reactor which, however, was destroyed by Israel before it could be completed. The UK, the US and other Western countries clandestinely gave to Iraq chemical weapons or the capability to produce them.
So long as the Saddam Hussein regime used these capabilities to kill and maim Iranian nationals , the West watched with proforma expressions of concern, while at the same time clandestinely replenishing Iraqi stocks. Its attitude to Iraq's retaining these capabilities changed after the Gulf war of 1991. In the USA's perception, Iraq was not a rogue state so long as it kept killing Iranians, but it became one as soon as it started resisting US pressure to destroy the unused stocks.
SOURCE
Shaw said: "BTW, dmarks, those WMDs--the chemical weapons found scattered around Iraq after the invasion? They were given to Saddam Hussein by the US when Iraq was fighting Iran."
At least you admit that he was stockpiling them, and it is a lie for some to have claimed that they never existed.
"How exactly was Iraq..."
Really irrelevant. Saddam Hussein was prohibited from stockpiling WMD under the Gulf War cease fire. Keeping them was an aggressive and serious violation. And after 9/11, it made even less sense for terrorist kingpin Saddam Hussein to engage in this and other aggressions.
As for the cost of war, check this page, which includes only actual costs (far less than one trillion for retaliating against Iraq), as opposed to the WaPo speculation which lumps unrelated things into it.
Dmarks, I was in the middle of a nice witty response to your comments when I realized they had nothing to do with the original post, which showed current and ongoing racist activity from the GOP base.
Do these messages and pictures offend you?
If they do, how can you continue to support a party where the leaders will not condemn the actions of the people, many local political leaders, who are responsible?
The GOP has been very big on the character counts front in the past. is it unreasonable to expect our Republican national leaders to step up and condemn these actions as not only racist, but demeaning to President Obama and his family personally?
Is it unreasonable for people to expect the GOP leadership to step up and say President Obama is a proud American with every right to be President and these personal attacks on his Americanism are detrimental to the office of the Presidency?
SInce I know the trolls are not capable of thinking this through, i'd love to hear your thoughts...
After watching the video about a dozen times, I’m with Infidel on this, although I think Mrs. Obama said (lipped) “all that for OUR flag” because she was in awe over the extent we go to in order to honor and remember our deceased and revere our country and yes, even our flag. It's quite over-whelming.
Pam, and yet, has anyone from the conservative media side posited that idea, or are they continuing on the negative Michelle Obama hates America thread?
There is much much more to war than "actual costs." To dismiss them as not consequential is to dismiss the human price we pay for war.
To dismiss imaginary factors dismisses nothing.
I would like to see RR tied up and dragged behind a pickup truck driven by Michelle Obama! He's a despicable slimy snake...
I also would love to see Pam unite with sane Conservative bloggers to denounce the radical Right and the horrible disrespect they show for OUR POTUS and Beautiful FLOTUS!! What do ya say Pam?! :)
Shaw I could feel your rage and soaring BP as I read this, It makes me physically ill..
Imaginary factors? Those imaginary factors include the post-war care of wounded and maimed veterans.
Hardly an imaginary factor.
http://scaredmonkeys.com/2011/07/25/american-voters-trust-republicans-on-economy-over-democrats-gop-has-10-point-edge-over-democrats/
If I smiled at the bottom two pictures does that make me a racist? If it does, then I didn't smile. Otherwise, I did.
I like Obama. Does that fix things?
If not, does the fact that I have black friends fix things? I have heard this is supposed to. I think even if I see my black friends as monkeys it is still supposed to work, if I understand correctly.
Dave asked: "Do these messages and pictures offend you?
If they do, how can you continue to support a party where the leaders will not condemn the actions of the people, many local political leaders, who are responsible?"
You can't get all over someone's case because they don't speak out on every single issue.
If I did, I could also get all over Pres. Obama, who at one time went to personal glorification rally for Louis Farrakhan, who is a vicious antisemite and racist. How can I support a party whose leader does not come out and strongly repudiate this vicious racist?
It's the exact same thing. I will criticise people for saying bad things, but I shy away from criticizing them for not speaking out on stuff.
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Personally, I am on a mailing list of someone who sends me all kinds of stuff: from nice artwork photos to conservative rants. Some of them are racist. When they are racist (such as the "official Presidential photo" of Obama that was all black with just eyes and teeth showing, I get all on her case about it. I've told her to stop sending anything. I suppose I need to find a way to block her emails.
As for Redneck, he is one of those few I am guessing is that kind of troll who is a liberal who is satiring conservatives. Like Colbert is. Or the leftists I saw at a tea party rally who made signs to try to make people think they were tea-party views.
Like I said awhile back, when it comes to the right-wing attacks against the POTUS and the FLOTUS I no longer ask "Have we reached the bottom?" Taking quotes out of context and cropping/editing clips to make the president look bad didn't work so now they're reading lips/minds! We have to come up with a new term because this level of craziness goes beyond Obama Derangement Syndrome.
"As for Redneck, he is one of those few I am guessing is that kind of troll who is a liberal who is satiring conservatives. Like Colbert is. Or the leftists I saw at a tea party rally who made signs to try to make people think they were tea-party views."
Typical rightie. When confronted with the lowest of low-lifes that populate the GOP, dmarks blames a liberal.
dmarks, that R.R. is one of yours. He's obviously someone like you who when confronted with facts (shaw deleted his comment where he said she made up the polls showing Cheney ended his vice presidency with low poll numbers) he denies them because reality is too uncomfortable for him--like you.
Observer said:
"dmarks, that R.R. is one of yours. He's obviously someone like you who when confronted with he denies them because reality is too uncomfortable for him--like you."
Name one instance of this. Just one. You won't, because you are just making up lies because they sound good. I caught you lying. Next time, instead of false claims that read like playground insults, say something that even remotely makes sense.
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