Congresswoman Jean Schmidt admits she’s a birther, sotto voce:
(via Glenn Thrush)
by DougJ| 80 Comments
This post is in: Clown Shoes
Congresswoman Jean Schmidt admits she’s a birther, sotto voce:
(via Glenn Thrush)
Comments are closed.
[…] to Balloon Juice for the […]
Brian J
Isn’t this the twat that did something to imply John Murtha and her opponent from a few years ago, Paul Hackett, both Marines, were cowards? If not, how else did she acquire the name “Mean Jean Schmidt”?
4tehlulz
Her district’s near Cincinnati; why did she feel compelled to whisper? I doubt that being a birther would be a liability down there.
linda
mean jean needs to ratchet it up some… she’s losing out on the crazy race to michelle bachmann.
gnomedad
Post title WIN.
Leelee for Obama
@Brian J: Yes, that’s her. Not surprised by anything but the whisper. I’m stunned she didn’t yell it out.
Comrade Dread
Lovely.
How long before the firestorm in the conservative blogosphere demanding the resignation of someone who is a part of a fringe group of lunatic conspiracy theorists?
Jay K.
Treason?
Sloth
Yep, I’m waiting…
Rosali
O/T: Arrests warrants issued for 11 Acorn workers in Miami-Dade County in connection with fraudulent registrations. It was Acorn itself that flagged the suspect registrations and reported them to authorities. No evidence of actual voter fraud. Brace yourself for the howls about a “stolen election”. I can’t link on my phone but it’s at miamiherald.com
Bulworth
I was thinking it had been a while since I’d heard from this angry woman. I can’t imagine she’s happy that upstarts such as Bachman have upstaged her nuttiness.
Brick Oven Bill
The electronic certificate states that the father was of the African race. This does not make sense as black groups put an end to this terminology in the 1800s because they really liked living in North America and did not want to get repatriated to Africa. Until the mid 1960s, black people called themselves negroes.
Negro was superseded by black which was superseded by African in 1980s self esteem studies. This is one reason why reasonable people should question the certificate.
The bigger reason is that Obama’s own defense is that the controversy ‘is not about that piece of paper’. But it is. There is a Constitutional requirement.
Obama is either trying to score cheap political points, or is hiding something. Either way, he is displaying character unbecoming of the President of the United States. He is no longer a community organizer. He is the President of all Americans.
GregB
Jean Cowards Cut and Run Smith. A more odious creting in congress there is not.
-G
GregB
Daily f-up……cretin.
-G
Ash Can
Jean Schmidt is just another asshole who insists she’s on moral high ground while she’s up to her chin in mud. The best response is to point down at her and laugh.
Michael
What a twunt.
Brian J
Next time someone brings up nonsense like this, simply ask them why, even when they are not in power, they are able to steal elections with the Republicans apparently knowing exactly how they do it and having evidence of it. It’s the equivalent of knowing who is robbing your house and having direct proof of it but not doing anything. I really, really want to track John Fund down and ask him this question, but I’m afraid he might cry.
maya
BoB@11.
Then explain this , BoB.
I’ll bet they didn’t have that particular IBM Selectric daisy wheel balls back in 1961, right?
slag
But not the long form, for some reason.
Zifnab
@Rosali: Well, this should be entertaining to watch at least. If we’re lucky, we’ll get to watch some cop or DA lose his job once this case gets tossed out.
I do wonder how many of the workers are black. Not that race has anything to do with this.
James F. Elliott
Christ, the comments there are a cesspool of dumb.
serge
Ma non troppo sotto voce…gotcha!
Egypt Steve
I was willing to go along with giving Van Jones the heave-ho, because I agreed that anyone who flirted with the 9/11 Truthers was damaged goods, beyond repair. But sauce for the goose, sauce for the gander. With a GOP rep on record as agreeing, with no asterisks or fine print or any weasel-room at all, with the Birther madness, there has to be a steady and unstoppable drumbeat to get her gone.
linda
@slag:
that video should be tagged to every post about the birthers… at least get some funny while pulling your hair out at the idiocy, i.e., #11 BOB.
4tehlulz
>a cesspool of dumb.
That’s a step up from the usual Politico comments.
J.A.F. Rusty Shackleford
@Rosali:
http://www.miamiherald.com/news/breaking-news/story/1224631.html
J.A.F. Rusty Shackleford
@Brick Oven Bill:
Brick Oven Birther?
B.O.B., are you a birther because you’re a bigot or would you be a birther even if you weren’t a bigot?
kay
All of this stuff is going to be in the history. The birthers, how conservative parents barred this President from entering their schools, all of it.
I think it’s like segregation. People are going to deny they were part of it.
Luckily, we have video.
John Cole
So, I wonder if Jon Henke is going to work to primary her…
The Grand Panjandrum
The GOP selected a birther to give the response to Obama’s health care speech tonight.
donnah
Not long ago, someone in a car accidentally struck Jean when she was jogging. Didn’t hurt her much; there wasn’t any water splashed on her.
Brick Oven Bill
Based upon the information made public, the poor quality of the electronic certificate, and the reactions of the Administration, the odds that the President is Constitutionally seated is 21%.
My analysis is superior to that of Nouriel Roubini’s.
That birth announcement posted above means nothing maya. As an example, I could have posted the birth of Krista’s baby in my local paper. Surely the mother was keenly aware of the value of American Citizenship over Kenyan Citizenship.
As this is my President too, I should not have to worry about this. Obama should come clean either way. He is displaying poor character.
BR
GOP’s response tonight will be given by a birther:
http://digg.com/politics/GOP_Picks_Birther_To_Rebut_President_s_Speech_Tonight
(He later hedged and said Obama is a citizen, never acknowledging his Hawaiian birth.)
Joshua Norton
If there’s something ignorant, ill bred and uber right wing to be, you can bet your last dollar that Mean Jean will be it.
Stabetha
BOB:
“As this is my President too, I should not have to worry about this. Obama should come clean either way. He is displaying poor character.”
Alright, then, why won’t Glenn Beck come clean about his involvement in the rape and murder of a young girl in 1990? I mean, I’m not saying that Glenn Beck raped and murdered a young girl in 1990, but some people have brought it up. Why hasn’t Glenn Beck denied that he raped and murdered a young girl in 1990? He is displaying poor character.
The Grand Panjandrum
@Brick Oven Bill: Your concern is duly noted.
slag
@linda: That video was definitely trenchant as hell.
But I have my own way of dealing with BOB. Every time he says something stupid/racist (ie, every time he says something), I try to find a way to retaliate. Sending letters to Faux News sponsors and digging informative articles are a start, but the frequency of his stupid racism is demanding more creative-yet-simple forms of retaliation. Any ideas are welcome.
arguingwithsignposts
Funny, for me, Brick Oven Bill only talks about pie. I’m glad.
ellaesther
When will I stop being surprised that elected officials buy into nonsense and lies? When will I stop expecting them to be somehow different, better, than the hoi palloi they serve — to take their job seriously and actually investigate shit? When will my jaw stop dropping open in astonishment when I watch stuff like this?
Rhetorical questions all. Something in me hopes the answer is “never” — faith in humanity/democracy isn’t a bad thing, necessarily — but at the rate the GOP is going, it might be sometime later this week.
Brick Oven Bill
Another reason for people to question the certificate is the terminology used by the defenders of the Administration to label people who are asking reasonable questions.
They are personalizing those asking the questions by calling them ‘birthers’. This is the Administration’s Alinsky technique for dealing with a worthy adversary. This is for intimidation purposes and has worked in the past.
In the past, those asking questions were not routinely personalized. There was ‘Travel-Gate’, Monica-Gate’, ‘Paula-Gate’, ‘China-Gate’, ‘Foster-Gate’, ‘File-Gate’, ‘Nanny-Gate’, etc.
The personalization of those asking questions, see this post as one example, is more evidence of something that smells bad.
Comrade Jake
Last night Maddow also noted that the guy giving the GOP response is a co-sponsor of the “death panel” legislation in the House. So he’s both a birther and a deather. He’s a twofer!
Strawmanmunny
@slag:
hee,hee.
That should be the response everytime this crap comes up and that video from last night should be sent around.
Litlebritdifrnt
@Brick Oven Bill: You see Bob it is really very simple, the reason that Barack Obama Sr., didn’t refer to himself as a “negro” is because he was not “African American” he was “African” geddit? A little research into the matter would enlighten you that in the 1960s (when baby Barack was hatched) the Kenyan Census Bureau instructed Kenyan natives to refer to themselves as “African” (as opposed to caucasian, asian etc.,) on government forms, so he was simply using the description of race provided to him by his government. Google is your friend Boob.
kay
You saw the tactic they employ when proof is provided, yesterday, with the speech.
They simply declare he changed the speech.
They’re dishonorable people, and it’s waste of time dealing with them.
Strawmanmunny
Here’s the lost video of Republicans getting ready to welcome Obama to Washington in January.
http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x17cw0_blazing-saddles-new-sheriff-in-town_fun
Comrade Jake
I suspect if BOB could figure out a means to fart “Obama’s not a citizen!” he would do it. In public. He’s “Birth Outta Buttcheeks”.
Joe Beese
Let me tell you something, Mean Jean…
Comrade Sock Puppet of the Great Satan
“The electronic certificate states that the father was of the African race.”
Err, perhaps because the father was from Kenya, and hence, umm, African?
JK
@James F. Elliott:
Dude, where did you learn to post such trenchant and insightful comments?
Brachiator
@Brick Oven Bill:
Wow! 21%! You must have pulled extra duty with an Excel spreadsheet in order to come up with such a pseudo-precise computation.
Of course, Factcheck dealt with all of your supposed questions long ago, including the non-issue of Obama Sr’s race:
http://www.factcheck.org/elections-2008/born_in_the_usa.html
But none of this really matters to die-hard birthers. Conspiracy nuts always have a magic reset button when confronted with facts, that allows them to pretend that their wild-eyed fantasies are always new and have never been contradicted.
The Saff
@kay: Exactly. And “dishonorable” is being kind. These people are truly reprehensible.
Brick Oven Bill
Factcheck is owned by the Annenberg Foundation, the group which bankrolls Bill Ayres. Americans are asking reasonable questions. As a public servant, the President should spend $12 to put these questions to rest. Instead he is spending large sums of money seeking to keep the question out of court.
This very well could be a scheme to discredit his political opponents. But this scenario would also display character unbecoming of the President. As Homeland Security has identified this issue as one reason for the rise of fringe groups, the President should spend the $12. If it is a issue of cost, I volunteer to front him the money.
Zifnab
@Brick Oven Bill:
Are they? Prove it. I want to see birth certificates.
Bokonon
I find it hilarious that Brick Oven Bill believes that getting called a “Birther” is … all the more reason to question the authenticity of Obama’s birth certificate! Because the derision shows that Obama has something to hide. YESSS!
This is perfect self-reinforcing loop of crazy.
Bill, I think it is really touching that right-wingers like you have suddenly become all wadded up about the hurtfulness and intimidation factor of getting called mean names.
So … based on your new sensitivity, I guess you and your fellow travelers are going to stop using terminology like “fascist” and “communist” and “treason” and “terrorist-lover” when referring to the Democrats, right? Because by your own logic, tactics like that are a dodge that just reveal the bankruptcy of your side’s policies (and show that you have something to hide)?
Ella in NM
@Litlebritdifrnt:
Zifnab
Btw, is it worth mentioning that Orly Taitz – head cheerleader in Team Fruit Loops – is not, herself, an American? I do appreciate that the claim that Obama is a secret foreigner plant sent to destroy our governmental system is coming from a foreigner publicly seeking to up end the current governmental system.
Ella in NM
@Bokonon:
Bokonon
Hi … I am Brick Oven Bill, and I spend a lot of time worrying about Bill Ayres. He scares me.
I worry about Bill Ayres so much that I see him behind every tree, lurking behind parking meters when I walk down the street, hear his sinister laughter in the wind …
Ooooh … gray-haired ex-radicals like Bill Ayres scare me! They might HURT me! They might make me read their memoirs or a book about education reform! Save me from the Annenburg Foundation! Mommy! !
Brick Oven Bill
Fascism is a mode of government, not a name meant to demean and minimize. In a fascistic government, modes of production are privately owned, under a large measure of state control.
In a social_ist government, modes of production are publically owned.
‘Unhinged’ and ‘birther’ are labels meant to demean. This is an effective technique Alinsky developed to win debates on college campuses. It does not seem to be nearly as effective among the general American population, although it does have Representative Schmidt whispering.
I again offer to front the President $12 to put this to rest.
Bokonon, you are behind the times. The original label was ‘ignorant’, then came ‘scared’, the new label is ‘unclassy’. Get with it.
JenJen
Well, Jean Schmidt is my Congresswoman, so you must all know how incredibly proud I am of the Patriotic Scrunchy Queen.
Knowing Jean and her family quite well, it was immediately obvious to me that the female “staffer” wearing the red sunglasses who implores the ThinkProgress reporter to “stop it, go away” and smacks his hand away is Jean’s identical twin sister, Jennifer. As far as I know, she’s not now nor has ever been a staffer of Jean’s.
I think even ThinkProgress missed that catch, not that it matters, but it’s interesting to me.
In other news, this happened at the Labor Day Teabagger Party they threw here in Cincinnati over the weekend. Currently, the local paper, The Cincinnati Enquirer, is embroiled in a local GOP Hissy Fit, because they reported attendance at 6,000, where the Sheriff of Butler County reported it at 18,000.
The Sheriff of Butler County spoke at the Teabag Party, and is a teabagger himself. Of course, of course, nothing to see here, why on earth would he inflate the numbers, right? He was just doing his job…
elisathon
@Rosali:
(sorry in advance, don’t have the FF coding Addon)
elisathon
@elisathon:
Aarrgh! must get Addon! – both paras in post are quote from article.
goblue72
BOB, your spoof is showing – its rather unseemly. Please go back to being a spoof that is less transparently a spoof.
Although I do have my suspiscions that the spoof that is BOB is not a human, but some elaborate AI-program at MIT’s Media Lab cooked up by post-docs doing 1 AM bong hits and attempting to create a program that could fool the Intertubes equivalent of the Turing Test.
Brachiator
@Zifnab:
Every time I see the name Orly Taitz, I can’t help but think of the novelty song Mairzy Doats.
Mairzy doats and dozy doats and liddle lamzy divey
A kiddley divey too, wouldn’t you?
Grumpy Code Monkey
Thank God BOB is a spoof, because otherwise I would have to hunt him down and punch him in the neck.
I recently got a copy of my birth certificate from the state of Texas (need to renew my passport). Guess what — it looks a lot like the document at FactCheck. It’s not a photocopy or facsimile of the original hospital certificate. It doesn’t name Dr. Fred or McKenna Memorial Hospital. It’s a short-form BC that basically says I was born in Texas on this date to these parents. It’s good enough for the State Department, it ought to be good enough for these assholes.
Ash Can
@Grumpy Code Monkey: Spoof or not, he sure seems to have been hitting the bottle unusually heavily this morning.
Comrade Darkness
@JenJen: Wait, wait. You’re telling us that the world is cursed with two copies of this Wife of Mudd froop loop harpy?
I picked the wrong planet to get borned on.
JenJen
@Comrade Darkness: Yes. I am sorry to be the one who had to inform you. There are two Jean Schmidts in this increasingly fucked-up world, and it is just one of those sad realities, I suppose.
I’m telling you, we’re living in a simulation.
JenJen
For anyone interested, check out the Cincinnati Enquirer’s article about Saturday’s Tea Party (the event at which Jean Schmidt was caught birth-whispering):
http://cincinnati.com/blogs/politics/2009/09/08/how-many-people-were-at-the-voa-tea-party/
Look at those news photos, and then try to explain how it is the Enquirer finds itself attacked because it disputes the Sheriff’s claims that 18,000 people attended. More importantly, try to understand why it is, exactly, that the Enquirer felt this laughable dispute merited a brand new piece about the Teabag Fest.
licensed to kill time
@elisathon:
here it is
Zifnab
@Brick Oven Bill:
Tell you what, BoB. Send me the $12 and I’ll see that it gets to him.
DZ
@BOB:
Nope, fascism is where private corporations and government collude to control everyone else. Also, how do you account for the fact that France, Spain, Italy, Germany and many others are basically socialist countries but the vast majority of the means of production are privately owned? I live in France part of the year – they have private property, mostly privately owned businesses and personal freedom the equal of ours. Oh, and single payer national health care.
DZ
@John Cole:
What was the evil word I used to go to moderation? It’s a mystery
Bokonon
Brick Oven Bill … since the President is both a fascist and a communist, I expect that his jack-booted thugs are already on their way to your house right now.
And when they get there, they will SEIZE that $12 from you after beating you upside the head. And laughing at you.
They will also call you demeaning names, like “Birther”. Because they are fascists. And using demeaning names is a fascist tactic (as well as being just plain mean).
Worse yet, the thugs might even be sarcastic (which was a well-known characteristic of fascists like Mussolini, Oswald Mosely and Bernard Krimptz).
And then, being communists, they will TAKE your $12 and distribute it to the masses. Because they have no regard for personal property at all.
Oh, the agony.
This is our new fascistic-communist reality.
Church Lady
Jean has been running up the credit cards on QVC again, if the Mr. T Collection necklace is any indication.
lou
noncarborundum
@DZ:
“so C!AL!S m”
Mentis Fugit
@DZ:
What was the evil word I used to go to moderation?
Let’s see if this works…
Socialism!
Mentis Fugit
Yes – no moderation. Here’s wot I dun:
Social­ism
Put an HTML soft hyphen in the word to break it up.
Mentis Fugit
Bah. Explanation defeated.
S o c i a l & s h y ; i s m
Defeat that, fiend comment software!