Obama's Speech

Kudos to the president for not tap-dancing around the issue of 9-11:

To address these issues, it is important to recall why America and our allies were compelled to fight a war in Afghanistan in the first place. We did not ask for this fight. On September 11, 2001, nineteen men hijacked four airplanes and used them to murder nearly 3,000 people. They struck at our military and economic nerve centers. They took the lives of innocent men, women, and children without regard to their faith or race or station. Were it not for the heroic actions of the passengers on board one of those flights, they could have also struck at one of the great symbols of our democracy in Washington, and killed many more.

As we know, these men belonged to al Qaeda – a group of extremists who have distorted and defiled Islam, one of the world’s great religions, to justify the slaughter of innocents. Al Qaeda’s base of operations was in Afghanistan, where they were harbored by the Taliban – a ruthless, repressive and radical movement that seized control of that country after it was ravaged by years of Soviet occupation and civil war, and after the attention of America and our friends had turned elsewhere.

Just days after 9/11, Congress authorized the use of force against al Qaeda and those who harbored them – an authorization that continues to this day. The vote in the Senate was 98 to 0. The vote in the House was 420 to 1. For the first time in its history, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization invoked Article 5 – the commitment that says an attack on one member nation is an attack on all. And the United Nations Security Council endorsed the use of all necessary steps to respond to the 9/11 attacks. America, our allies and the world were acting as one to destroy al Qaeda’s terrorist network, and to protect our common security.

Under the banner of this domestic unity and international legitimacy – and only after the Taliban refused to turn over Osama bin Laden – we sent our troops into Afghanistan. Within a matter of months, al Qaeda was scattered and many of its operatives were killed.

And:

So no – I do not make this decision lightly. I make this decision because I am convinced that our security is at stake in Afghanistan and Pakistan. This is the epicenter of the violent extremism practiced by al Qaeda. It is from here that we were attacked on 9/11, and it is from here that new attacks are being plotted as I speak. This is no idle danger; no hypothetical threat. In the last few months alone, we have apprehended extremists within our borders who were sent here from the border region of Afghanistan and Pakistan to commit new acts of terror. This danger will only grow if the region slides backwards, and al Qaeda can operate with impunity. We must keep the pressure on al Qaeda, and to do that, we must increase the stability and capacity of our partners in the region.

Of course, this burden is not ours alone to bear. This is not just America’s war. Since 9/11, al Qaeda’s safe-havens have been the source of attacks against London and Amman and Bali. The people and governments of both Afghanistan and Pakistan are endangered. And the stakes are even higher within a nuclear-armed Pakistan, because we know that al Qaeda and other extremists seek nuclear weapons, and we have every reason to believe that they would use them.

There has been surprisingly little pushback against this speech from Troofer HQ. Truth Action highlights an anti-escalation rally, featuring the usual suspects:

Speakers include: Cynthia McKinney, Sen. Mike Gravel, Kathy Kelly, Chris Hedges, David Swanson, Phyllis Bennis, Rev. Graylan Hagler, Coy McKinney, Debra Sweet, Brian Becker, Mathis Chiroux, Lynne Williams, Hon. Betty Hall, Elaine Brower, Marian Douglas, Michael Knox, Ralph Lopez, Ron Fisher, and statements from Col. Ann Wright, Stephen Zunes and Granny D (turning 100).

But there is only one mention of Obama invoking 9-11 to justify (rightly, in my view) the escalation of the troop levels in Afghanistan.

Over at Flogger, there is some anger:

Barrack Hussein Obama is a MASSIVE LIAR and is Complicit in Mass Murder and the coverups of 911.

OBAMA is now, certifiably, a shill for the military industrial complex and a tool for the globalist bankers. Continuing an illegal war based on the Big Lie of 9/11. The world knows it was a false-flag attack--and he is now an accessory after the fact.

One of the Troofers tries a little free verse:

abomination obama nation declares war
using false pretense too horrific to ignore

while tens of thousands (no longer people),
but troops, ordered to preserve poppy plants,
dark economies, energy resources, while law
takes order a foot, or two..

soldiers crawl under site - killing being killed,
and told that to justify such a decision to
invade and occupy 9/11 is implicated into
mind altering imagery, denial is its deadly
sound, as people are told to trust untruth,
or we will and can kill you.. or better yet,
don't think of it.. live day to day..

Predictably, the doggerel gets praise:

Deep words, brother.

For the most part it's minor leaguers making the comments, but Jon Gold chips in:

Last time he sent troops to Afghanistan, he did the same thing. Barrack OBusha.

Charlie Sheen Gets 20 Minutes With the President

No, he didn't. This is just a fantasy post by Charlie. Predictably, he focuses on the NORAD issue:

CS – You’ll notice sir on page one of the dossier dated August of ‘06 from the Washington Post, the statements of John Farmer, senior council to the 9/11 commission, his quote stating, “I was shocked how different the truth was from the way it was described.”

PBO – (as he glances down at the report, almost inaudible) …. um hmm….

CS – He goes on to further state “The [NORAD Air Defense] tapes told a radically different story from what had been told to us and the public for two years….”

Aside from that, it's the usual melange of factoids, like Willie Brown was warned not to fly, Mineta describing the Cheney neck whip, Bellone and DeMasi found the black boxes at the WTC, explosions, Barbara Olsen's phone calls, etc.

Update: If you thought the gullible Troofers posting on that thread were funny, check out the firestorm that went on at the Prison Planet Forum when the disclaimer was added (see around page 8).

The Truther/Birther Harmonic Convergence

In this incredibly nutty post by Orly Taitz, Birther Supreme:

(Attachment D) shows that Magic Plumbing had worked on the sprinkler system at the World Trade Center just days before 9/11. One of the men that performed this work lived in Brooklyn. He left Brooklyn on 9/11 and went to Tennessee. A woman that had a court date involving identity theft with the motor vehicle department in Tennessee met a mysterious death. Mr. Chatfield had no comment or thought in reference to this material being shown to him.

Compelling evidence. I now believe that Barack Obama was actually born inside the World Trade Center based on this testimony, possibly in WTC-7 itself. Let's remember that Mr Chatfield had no comment or thought in reference to this material. What more need we say?

Obama: Al Qaeda Responsible for 9-11

It's just a tiny part of his speech in Cairo, but appreciated nevertheless:

The situation in Afghanistan demonstrates America's goals, and our need to work together. Over seven years ago, the United States pursued al Qaeda and the Taliban with broad international support. We did not go by choice, we went because of necessity. I am aware that some question or justify the events of 9/11. But let us be clear: al Qaeda killed nearly 3,000 people on that day. The victims were innocent men, women and children from America and many other nations who had done nothing to harm anybody. And yet Al Qaeda chose to ruthlessly murder these people, claimed credit for the attack, and even now states their determination to kill on a massive scale. They have affiliates in many countries and are trying to expand their reach. These are not opinions to be debated; these are facts to be dealt with.

The Obama Deception Debunked Part I

Since this movie was pushed by 9-11 Truth Groups at tea parties on Wednesday, and now is being advertised on both Rush Limbaugh and Glenn Beck's radio programs I thought I would discuss the film.

First, understand that the tea party crowd may enjoy the title, but they're really not the target market for this nonsense. This film is really aimed at leftist supporters of Obama, trying to peel them away, as anybody can tell very quickly.

For example, one of the early messages Alex Jones pushes is that Obama is just like Bush; not a sentiment likely to win converts on the right. He notes that Obama kept Gates as defense secretary; this of course is one of the things that conservatives would give Obama credit for.

The movie starts with KRS-One, apparently a famed rapper (dang, I knew I should have listened to that crap more). He gives a rather silly monologue about how Obama is the manager at Burger King. If you don't like your burger at Burger King, you can't just go to the cashier (which is the court system), you need to go above Obama the manager to the guy who actually owns the franchise. I'm thinking that the burger is the economy and the franchise owner is the New World Order.

Next we go to a group discussion including those noted deep thinkers, Jesse Ventura and Willie Nelson. Jesse tells us that politics is like pro wrestling; they may hate each other in front of the cameras but they're best buds when the red light goes off. This is relatively non-controversial; Orrin Hatch and Ted Kennedy apparently do get along famously in private life. But what Alex Jones is selling with this bit is that they're all secretly conspiring to do something nasty to us and just pretending to have political differences (which is completely untrue).

Now we get to the man that Jones is selling as his Obama expert: Webster Tarpley. Tarpley is a former Lyndon LaRouche follower; he was LaRouche's main man in Europe for decades, before being purged with the rest of the Baby Boomers in the late 1990s as LaRouche focused his hucksterism on Generation X.

I love the bit about 6:10 in regarding the end of "Posse Commentatus"; that's been a staple of kooks since forever, but most of them pronounce it right.

And indeed, much of the film could have been done by the LaRouche people; LaRouche often railed about the Trilateral Commission and the Council on Foreign Relations, two organizatons that along with the Bilderbergers get prominent play in the movie. Tarpley is also the usual cited source for the idiotic leftist claim that Prescott Bush was the banker to the Nazis, a ridiculous misreading of the actual facts.

Tarpley tells us that Obama's working for Wall Street, another claim not likely to win the Obama Deception believers on the right wing.

Then comes Joe Rogan. I mean seriously. So far we've had a rapper, a wrestler, a country and western singer, a LaRouche cult member and now we get the former host of Fear Factor? Oh, but he's got so much credibility because he's a mixed martial arts announcer! One of the usual faults of conspiracy theories is the "Appeal to Authority," but in this case Alex seems to be going with "Appeal to Celebrity."

Jones' first words (his voice is distinctively gravelly) should likely cause the conservative tea partiers to pop open their DVD players and scale the Obama Deception towards the garbage can.

"America in 2009 was desperate for change. The prior eight years had been a disaster."

Okay, seriously, is there any conservative that needs to hear more? But in case they do, I would like to point out that this video is produced by Alex Jones, who spent the last 7 years claiming that the terrorist attacks of 9-11 were a conspiracy planned and orchestrated by the Bush Administration. No matter how much you may hate Obama (and I see a fair amount of it), you don't like Alex Jones.

Some claims in the movie:

Obama told workers he opposed NAFTA, but he later sent word to Canada that he was just posturing. This is true, but hardly unusual for a politician.

For the most part, this movie is yet another recycling of Alex Jones' master conspiracy theory. Jones believes that the New World Order is upon us, that the upper classes are going to kill 80% of us, and enslave the rest. At least, that's what he sells to the idiots who subscribe to his site. Let me put it this way; Jones is competing with the nice gentleman in Nigeria who alerted you to that fortune the uncle you never heard of left behind in his bank before that unfortunate plane crash.

Jones should not appeal to sincere conservatives. Let me point out that because his target market is mostly the kind of disaffected twenty-somethings wandering around in black tee-shirts, he routinely disparages the police, talking about how they pick the dumb, evil ones purposely. Ditto with the military; Jones despises the US military. Oh, remember that guy who shot three cops in Pittsburgh a couple weeks ago? Big Alex Jones fan.

Observe the people that Jones cites as his experts; Webster Tarpley, a Lyndon LaRouche 9-11 Truther who's such a jerk that fully 3/4 of the 9-11 Truthers hate him. And what does Tarpley accuse Obama of? Not being a socialist or a communist. He's a freaking agent of finance capitalism, a creature of Wall Street.

Okay, the next conservative who thinks that Obama represents the capitalists on Wall Street can raise their middle hand.

So why am I posting this now? Because we're now getting an incredible surge in traffic over the Obama Deception. We really try to be non-partisan around here, but it is no secret that I supported John McCain for president in 2008, and I remain critical of Obama's performance, particularly on the spending side.

I will put up more detailed pieces debunking the film, now that I see the reception it is getting. But any conservative that wants to know what I think of the Obama Deception should know that it's a piece of crap, and relying on it for anything is likely to make you look like a fool to anyone with Google. Let me give a simple example. In the movie, we are presented with the following quote from Abraham Lincoln:

I see in the near future a crisis approaching. It unnerves me and causes me to tremble for the safety of my country. The money power preys upon the nation in times of peace and conspires against it in times of adversity. It is more despotic than a monarchy, more insolent than autocracy, more selfish than bureaucracy. It denounces, as public enemies, all who question its methods or throw light upon its crimes. I have two great enemies, the Southern Army in front of me & the financial institutions at the rear, the latter is my greatest foe. Corporations have been enthroned, and an era of corruption in high places will follow, and the money power of the country will endeavor to prolong its reign by working upon the prejudices of the people until the wealth is aggregated in the hands of a few, and the Republic is destroyed. I feel at this moment more anxiety for the safety of my country than ever before, even in the midst of war. God grant that my suspicions may prove groundless.

In fact, this is an old fraudulent quote. How old? It was debunked in an 1896 letter to the editor of the New York Times.

To our liberal readers, forgive me the political intrusion in the above post. I am trying to debunk a ridiculously stupid movie about Barack Obama that is apparently catching on with conservatives.

Update: Lotta gripes that I didn't debunk enough here; see that "Part I" part of header? This is just the broad brush. See Part II where I get into more specific debunking of claims in the movie.

President Obama Meets With Family Members

Including the Jersey Girls, which leads to the obvious question (not answered in the article): Did Patty Casazza tell him about her mystery informant? The one that told her that the government knew every detail of the attacks beforehand?

Lorie Van Auken, a leader of September 11th Advocates, a group headed by four New Jersey women who lost their husbands in the attacks, called the meeting "impressive," saying Obama gave detailed answers to their questions and allayed many of their concerns. She said the president did not rule out some form of military commissions in the future and acknowledged shortcomings in dealing with terrorism suspects in regular criminal courts.

"He acknowledged this was quite a mess and it really needed to be looked at by his legal team and by him," said Van Auken, whose husband, Kenneth Van Auken, was killed in the World Trade Center and whose group supports closing Guantanamo Bay. "I think everybody recognized, no matter which side of the issue they're on, that this is a quagmire that will not be solved easily."

Mindy Kleinberg, another member of the group, said Obama also made clear that "nobody is just going to get freed by the closing of Guantanamo."

Did any of them say anything about how they want Bush and Cheney prosecuted? Or is that just the sort of stuff they murmur to Jon Gold and company?

Alex Jones: Restrained and Reflective

Obama The "Truther"

My god, this is a classic example of digging for the pony:

But I didn’t know that Obama was a 9/11 truther until the first part of this essay was posted at 911 Blogger, and commenters replied with some very interesting information. (Just goes to show the value of networking.)

Early in 2007, when then-Senator Obama could still be approached by a couple guys from Student Scholars for 9/11 Truth with a video camera, and asked about re-opening the 9/11 investigation, Obama replied, “I think that we need to investigate a whole range of options, although I have to admit that, some of the issues I understand that you guys have raised, I’m not entirely confident.”

Of course, the most important clause here is, “we need to investigate.” But Obama’s also providing some revealing information about what he already knows. He’s familiar enough with the 9/11 truth material that he can say that he’s not “entirely” confident with “some” of the issues the movement has raised.

And he's got the ready-made excuse for why Obama won't push it:

A chance meeting of a private contractor and an ex-KGB sharpshooter now doing business in the Russian underworld, and you know you’re history. Blamed on some patsy -- Muslim, no doubt. Like Sirhan. Assassination? Their stock in trade.

You see Sasha and Malia standing there, beautiful in their photogenic sorrow, like John-John and Caroline, iconic emblems of another century of lost hope and disillusioned innocence.

But there's still hope:

But I also know, based on an excellent portrait drawn of the early Obama by John Nichols in the Nation, that he is, at heart, a progressive who will do the right thing when pushed by the public. So I know that, just like he always says, what Obama does is not as important as what we do. It is our job, as a 9/11 truth movement, to apply the public pressure that will make Obama do what he already wants to do.

Obama doesn't believe in your crackpot theories. But please, feel free to keep applying that awesome public pressure; we find it endlessly amusing.

A Seamless Transition

No, not the Obama team's effortless move into the White House; I'm talking the fruitcakes' ability to move him to the center of the conspiracy. Check out this website, where you can learn about comparisons between a book of Obama's pithier sayings and those of Chairman Mao. Or you can discover the ten essential secrets to surviving Obama. Or a rapper who isn't an Obama fan.

The Obama Deception

Update by Pat:

Because this film is now getting a lot of attention, including advertising on Rush Limbaugh and Glenn Beck's radio program, this post has become a big stopping point for this ridiculous movie. As a result, I would like to start our readers by pointing to this post of mine debunking the Obama Deception from a conservative point of view. Here's Part II of my debunking of the Obama Deception.

Update End

As a bit of a follow-up to Pat's last post on the nutjobs in the post-Bush era, head nutjob Alex Jones, who is conveniently not constrained by reality, doesn't let it him slow him down in the least, with a movie on Barack Obama titled "The Obama Deception" coming out in just 2 months.

The Alex Jones Inauguration Celebration

Alex Jones goes off on the new president. This was just too hilarious not to make a quick clip of it.

Obama Suspends Gitmo Prosecutions

If he was going to break one campaign promise, I would prefer it was this one.

GUANTANAMO BAY, Cuba, Jan. 20 -- In one of its first actions, the Obama administration instructed military prosecutors late Tuesday to seek a 120-day suspension of legal proceedings involving detainees at the naval base at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba -- a clear break with the approach of the outgoing Bush administration.

The instruction came in a motion filed with a military court in the case of five defendants accused of organizing the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks on the United States. The motion called for "a continuance of the proceedings" until May 20 so that "the newly inaugurated president and his administration [can] review the military commissions process, generally, and the cases currently pending before military commissions, specifically."

My concern is what they do with figures like KSM and the 20th hijacker, Mohamed al-Qhatani. The article notes:

The legal maneuver appears designed to provide the Obama administration time to refashion the prosecution system and potentially treat detainees as criminal defendants in federal court or have them face war-crimes charges in military courts-martial. It is also possible that the administration could re-form and relocate the military commissions before resuming trials.

You put KSM and al-Qhatani in the federal court system and the possibility exists that a judge will set them free. Indeed, the fruitcakes at the ACLU are essentially asking for that:

"This is a good step in the right direction, although we still think that the unconditional withdrawal of all charges and shutting down this tainted system is warranted," said Jamil Dakwar, director of the human rights program at the American Civil Liberties Union. "The president's order leaves open the option of this discredited system remaining in existence."

Some 9-11 family members are outraged:

"We demand that this camp stay open and that the process continue," said Joe Holland, whose son was among those killed during the attacks on the World Trade Center in New York and on the Pentagon in Washington.

"Right here, right now, this is a good process, they are getting a fair trial," Mr. Holland told reporters at the U.S. facility in Cuba, referring to the military commissions established by the Bush administration to try "war on terror" detainees held at the facility.

Let me make this clear. I don't care about the process, as long as the outcome is satisfactory. If KSM or al-Qhatani end up walking, then I am going to be quite outraged.

The Other "Truthers"

Michelle Malkin points out that the 9-11 Troofers are only the beginning.

Did you know that Sarah Palin-haters are still trying to prove she didn’t give birth to her youngest son, Trig? These tinfoil hat-wearers are as obnoxious and unhinged as the 9/11 Truth cultists who insist that America engineered the jihadi attacks on itself. The presidential campaign may be over, but there’s no expiration date on Palin Derangement Syndrome.

Andrew Sullivan, against all odds, is still on the case of Trig Truth:

I begged the McCain campaign by private email and in a private meeting to give me something - anything - to kill the story off. I promised to run any evidence that would blow this out of the water. That offer still stands. Please make me look like an idiot for asking these questions.

Um, Andrew, you look like an idiot for asking these questions. As Mrs M points out, the press who covered Sarah Palin back then do not have any doubt that she was indeed pregnant with her Down Syndrome child:

“These internet rumors are very bizarre. We worked with Governer Palin many times in 2008. Our reporters worked her on location and in the studio and I worked with her myself. She was definitely pregnant. You could see it in her belly and her face. The whole idea that Sarah Palin wasn’t pregnant with Trig is completely, absolutely absurd.”

Like all Truthers, Andrew thinks the media are in on it:

All I know is: the media refuses to ask and doesn't want to know and failed to demand medical records. All I know is that some journalists - like the Washington Post's Howie Kurtz - even tried to discredit the integrity of bloggers for asking.

And he uses the typical Troofer dodge of "I'm just asking questions!":

I do not know the truth and have never claimed that Palin is lying.

Update: Here's a sonogram of somebody pregnant with a Down Syndrome baby, although I can't swear it's Trig Palin:



There's another form of Trooferism in the air, as Michelle points out, although this one is more common in the fever swamps of the right than the left. It's Obama Troof, which consists of the absurd claim that Barack Obama was not born in the United States. It's being pushed by Phil Berg among others, which is fortunate because most of the major right wing blogs simply Googled Berg, found out he was a 9-11 nutbar (from a January 2007 post on this blog), and dismissed the claims right off the bat. As has been pointed out, the State of Hawaii has confirmed Obama's birth and there was a birth announcement in a Hawaii paper in 1961. That's good enough for me, and remember, I did not support the Obama campaign; I was a McCainiac.

One thing I do like; everybody's now using "Truther" to indicate nutbar. Great job, Troofers!

Another Defeat for the Troofers

Troofer attorney Phillip Berg had his lawsuit arguing that Barack Obama was not a US citizen thrown out. Judge must be another NWO stooge...

PHILADELPHIA (AP) - A federal judge has dismissed a lawsuit challenging Barack Obama's qualifications to be president.

U.S. District Judge R. Barclay Surrick on Friday night rejected the suit by attorney Philip J. Berg, who alleged that Obama was not a U.S. citizen and therefore ineligible for the presidency. Berg claimed that Obama is either a citizen of his father's native Kenya or became a citizen of Indonesia after he moved there as a boy.

Another Troofer Book Attacking Obama

Jerome Corsi is apparently not the only truther with a thing against Barrack Obama, with former Larouche and permanent conspiracy nut Webster Tarpley having his own contribution, with the title of Obama - The Postmodern Coup


Obama is bizarrely described in the Amazon blurb as:

Obama's economics are pure Skull & Bones/Chicago school austerity and sacrifice for American working families, all designed to bail out the bankrupt Wall Street elitist financiers who own Obama. Obama's lemming legions and Kool-Aid cult candidacy hearken back to Italy in 1919-1922, and raise the question of postmodern fascism in the United States today.

Huh? The only thing Obama has in common with Alex P. Keaton's favorite economist is geography. Among other examples, Obama has repeatedly said he will raise taxes, regardless of what economists say and that fairness, not economic freedom is the primary concern, a philosophy which could not be farther from that of Milton Friedman and the Chicago School. But as you all know, facts and logic mean nothing to a conspiracy theorist.

Hey, I am no fan of Obama, but I don't want these idiots on my side.

Goofs Go After Obama

No specific 9-11 references in there, but it's the usual gang of idiots: North American Union, CFR, etc. A reminder for liberals (if they needed one) that the Troofers are not their friends.

Is Obama the Candidate of the New World Order?

Kevin Barrett claims that Webster Tarpley has convinced him:

Webster Tarpley has made a good case that Obama is a dangerous NWO front-man, and that Hilary, for all her faults, would be a small step toward reorienting the political system in favor of ordinary working people, who are being bled dry by the NWO globalists.

I always hate to admit it when Webster's right--he's so darn smart it gets annoying--but the more the glazed-eyed pseudo-educated sheeple swoon over Obama, the more I want our first black president to be Cynthia McKinney.

It's certainly amusing to hear somebody saying that Obama is more NWO-ish than Hillary. Of course, I assume that Barrett is a Hillary supporter, and not that Obama spends his idle hours at the Bohemian Grove. As evidence, Hang 'Em All points to this discussion of Truthers getting thrown out of an Obama event.

A reminder, in case one was needed, that the differences between Republicans and Democrats are nothing compared to the differences between Troofers and sane people.

Barack Obama Finds the Middle

Good job, Barack!