bernie's big mistake

... was not in ripping off little old ladies, children, cripples, pensions and charities. the king of the ponzi scheme supreme is not going away for decades past his dying for a white-collar crime so time-honored yet pedestrian.

no, his singular, unforgivable sin was the gravest sin of all: he ripped off his rich friends.

ny times: but in meting out the maximum sentence, judge chin pointed out that no friends, family or other supporters had submitted any letters on mr. madoff’s behalf, attesting to the strength of his character or good deeds he had done. even mr. madoff’s wife, ruth, whose own awareness of his business dealings has been a major unanswered question, issued a statement on monday distancing herself from him. ... she was not in court for the sentencing hearing.

bloomberg: the courtroom erupted in applause and shouts after chin imposed the sentence.

bloomberg: prosecutors said yesterday in their response to madoff's bail appeal that he should remain behind bars while he awaits sentencing. they said that madoff is a flight risk because he is likely to spend the rest of his life in prison, has been "shunned by the community," owns a home abroad, and has spent decades lying to clients.

newser: documents released today showed that ruth agreed to give up boats and vehicles as well as properties in manhattan, montauk,and palm beach, fla. the deal may allow her to move on after months of being shunned at manhattan establishments and crucified in the tabloids.

reuters: ruth madoff has not been charged with any crimes but she has been widely vilified by defrauded investors, shunned by people she once knew and pursued by the new york press. under the agreement she could still be liable to civil claims.

quote of the day

from gordon @ obama conspiracy theories:

i’ll tell you, in all my years in law enforcement, a black man always needed more identification then anyone else. i never thought it would extend to the POTUS!

and the shipping's free

so don't dawdle ...

this is auction is for a certified copy of president barack obama's kenyan birth certificate. president barack hussein obama II was born in the coast provincial general hospital at mombasa in kenya at 7:24 pm on august 4th 1961. i've traveled throughout the caribbean (including cuba), ibero america (i.e.,latin america), and africa. i have a bachelors in sociology, a bachelors in social sciences as well as a bachelors in afro-caribbean studies. i'm a collector of old dominican and cuban money. i've worked in the democratic republic of the congo as an advisor in the government's hydrology & rain water management administration. this spring i traveled through kenya and it's capital nairobi. i was overwhelmed by the "iconicized" face of US President barack obama that displays itself throughout the country. i had lunch at a small eatery and noticed that the club sandwich with fried plantains was now known as "obama's plate of the day." as an american i was bombarded with questions in english (english is the official language of kenya) on my feelings and opinions of a kenyan governing the united states of america. the first several times i responded in saying that not enough time had elapsed since barack Obama's appointment as President of the USA, and that I'd have to hold my official opinion until at least january 2010, a year in office might be sufficient for me to judge his ability to govern the USA. natuarally i thought that by "kenyan" they were referring to barack obama's blood, being that his father barack obama sr was a native of kenya. after a day and a half of my being in nairobi i learned that they were literally referring to president barack obama jr as being born in kenya, a native of kenya. now i started asking questions, did his father's kenyan blood somehow entitle barack jr to the equivalent of a native kenyan? no, not all, i was to find out. they were referring to barack obama jr's physical birth on kenyan soil. kenyans were amused at how gullible americans could be when it came to obvious things like the fact that kenyans overtly admit to barack jr's kenyan birth, yet the americans continue to believe that they know better. i delved further and found that a birth certificate was on file at the coast provincial general hospital at mombasa. i know several american expats that reside in kenya. i asked the three that i could reach if they were aware of president barack obama's kenyan birth. all three said that they were most obviously aware of his kenyan birth. i was shocked. they went to further say that they weren't much concerned with it, after all they'd left the US to start a new life abroad and didn't have much interest in what was taking place in the states. besides, they said, who would believe them anyway? along with my congolese brother andylenny (brother in heart, not blood) and a 1993 BMW with only one working door i was off to mombasa to get myself a copy (certified i hoped) of barack jr's birth certificate. AND THAT BIRTH CERTIFICATE IS WHAT YOU ARE BIDDING ON HERE IN THIS EBAY AUCTION, CERTIFIED BIRTH CERTIFICATE. i am not posting any photos of the birth certificate here on ebay. i have not seen this birth certificate anywhere on the internet, to post it here on ebay would lead to a flood of facsimiles on the internet. this would inadvertently decrease the value of the certificate as well. in further support of i offer the facts below: a. barack obama (or anyone) has never released a copy of his "hawaiian" birth certificate. no one has ever seen it. only a copy of his hawaiian "registry of birth" or registration of birth" has been released to the public. hey, i have a registry of birth as well (along with my birth certificate). it's funny how a registry of birth is not valid as a form of identification. it can't be used to verify age or identity. just try to use yours (yes, you have a registry of birth as well) at the DOT or DMV or even at the social security administration if you ever lose your SS card and need a replacement. NO ONE WILL ACCEPT A REGISTRY OF BIRTH. yet the president uses his to verify to all of america that he was born in the united states? and hey, you might say, "what's the deal you conspiracy freak! you're just looking for any reason discredit barack obama." well then, if it's not a big deal at all, then why can't anyone produce barack's birth certificate? b. the barack obama administration, in an attempt to put the birth certificate issue to a rest, has presented the american public with a FAKE, FORGED, FRAUDULENT hawaiian birth certificate in response to a growing number of the american public that have been demanding proof that barack was born in the us. hey, what? you say you don't believe me? just google it! jay mckinnon, a department of homeland security-trained document specialist, has implicated himself in the production of fake barack obama hawaiian birth certificate. JUST GOOGLE IT! message me with any questions that you might have regarding this auction for president barack hussein obama jr's kenyan birth certificate (certified birth certificate). i reserve the right to not answer specific questions who's answers would no doubt be wallpapered across the internet by breakfast time. i will however reply to all questions. my replies may contain specific answers, and they may not. this will be at my discretion. if the need arises i may be contacted via telephone. contact me via ebay message if you believe that your question or questions merit a phone call. international bidders are welcome. domestic shipping is free, international will be a flat fee of $75.00. all shipping will be insured, and overnight via USPS, UPS, or FEDEX. you pick. HAPPY BIDDING !!!

needless to say, since you'll be buying sight unseen, caveat emptor!

update: oh ... rats!!! the bidding apparently got up to $7,901.00, but the usurper's minions are everywhere!

falling like tenpins

congratulations, mark ... you've just handed your party another much-needed crisis in leadership. after all, it's only been a week since the last one. john ensign thanks you for the respite ...

anybody else worried that every candidate who shows up on the radar screen is put under a microscope (O’s watching!). sarah palin john ensign mark sanford republicans need to unite against “the one” just look how he wiped out hillary when he wasn’t even on the map 2 years before 2008... no, we do not need to "unite against 'the one'". we need to unite FOR a qualified, responsible, and electable candidate. that rules out palin, ensign, and sanford. democrats united FOR "the one", and that's how he got elected. "the one" did his part too, in that he didn't have his immediate family behaving like trailer trash, didn't get caught having an affair with blackmail and job favors involved, and didn't disappear without explanation while serving in the us senate.

like mark davis said yesterday on rush, if sanford doesn’t have a logical, reasonable explanation for his disappearance, he’s toast as far as a run for the presidency goes. now, if he were a democrat, the media would be celebrating his sense of independence and adventure and how he’s going to bring new ideas and energy to his role as governor of the great state of SC. he’s toast already. disappearing for a few days without letting your staff or wife know where you are or how to reach you or at least what they’re *supposed* to say about your absence, and then resurfacing several days lateer saying “what’s the big deal?” is not career-ending behavior for a pop singer or sociology professor, but it most certainly IS career-ending behavior for a state governor and would-be republican POTUS nominee. we republicans are into the personal responsibility thing.

... especially when you've made it your platform by castigating everybody else for lacking it.

republicans should not have affairs with married staff members or take mystery trips to argentina without informing wife or staff. and, they need to do a better job of pointing hypocrisy of the rich wall-street dems from goldman sachs and citigroup who are destroying this country!

republicans have to be squeaky clean because they are expected to be. they must be articulate because so many of our candidates in the past have not been, and well, we all know how GWB was about less govt. i haven’t seen the GOP candidate that can do all that yet. it’s not sanford (not a lot of charisma and this disappearing act isn’t good) palin (more of a joke now on the national stage) or jindal (again with the speaking on a national level ) and no one in congress seems to want less govt. isn’t there someone else out there who can go toe to toe with obama?

the whole problem is the dems send in thier best teams of smarmy hacks, and the pubbies can’t do that because the best are usally running a buisness or 2 or 3.

... because republicans are just too damn clean and hardworking for their own good.

time to throw my support to haley barbour, i guess.

now there's a ringing endorsement.

frankly, i am so sick and tired of the ridiculous standards that somehow must apply to our candidates/leaders, when nowhere near the scrutiny comes to those on the other side. we have too many on OUR side who have bought into this bs. i would just as soon have the truck driver at the local bar become president or senator, because we would likely get better leadership from someone like that. and to all romney supporters, go stick it.

here's an novel idea: next time try nominating somebody you'd rather have a beer with ...

this is way beyond something where the media latches on to a misstep or a family member or a misspeaking of a word. this is about strange internal demons and being out of touch with reality. i think this was his way of telling us that he didn't want to go any further in leadership.

admittedly, he could have finessed the rollout a little better.

doesn’t rule out palin at all! sarah 2012!!!

i seriously am feeling sick. i am very depressed. fieldmarshaldj had me look at sanford and i actually did and really like him. this is so disappointing. i sincerely am sorry fieldmarshaldj for this...seriously!!!

well good old fieldmarshal spent the morning villainizing those of us with the temerity to question sanford when there was a distinct whiff of adultery in the air. ready to apology fieldmarshal?

"fieldmarshalj" responds:

he let a lot of us down, and seeing the spectacle on tv... just very sad. i spent this entire morning defending the man to the hilt and hearing what is pouring out of his mouth... no words.

so is jindal the one i have to default to for ‘12 now? at this rate we're gonna be defaulting to some unknown state senator.

and the guy didn’t even buy american. sorry, but this guy is half a bubble off. getting on the plane for nooky? make me sick.

well, another one of sarah’s oppnents goes down the tubers. next, we find out that mitt’s hairpiece is phony. jesus, they’re falling like tenpins. no. this is really pathetic. especially watching him hide behind the bible. you don’t go into republican politics if you can’t hide john thomas in your pants. you don’t cheat on the mrs. you just don’t. if you do, the D’s will find out about it and kill you. STUPID, STUPID, STUPID. so, i wonder how much rahm paid the girl to flip on him?

this should end all the speculation

formerly awol south carolina governor mark sanford:

sanford, in an exclusive interview with the state media company, said he decided at the last minute to go to the south american country to recharge after a difficult legislative session in which he battled with lawmakers over how to spend federal stimulus money. ... sanford said he was alone on the trip. he declined to give any additional details about what he did other than to say he drove along the coastline. ... when asked why his staff said he was on the appalachian trail, sanford replied, "i don't know." sanford later said "in fairness to his staff," he had told them he might go hiking on the appalachian trial. ... "i don't know how this thing got blown out of proportion," sanford said. sanford said he has taken adventure trips for years to unwind.

and from abc news:

abc’s joe goldman reports that a us embassy official in buenos aires tells him that the embassy had "absolutely no idea" that sanford was in argentina. the embassy official added that this comes "from out of left field -- it would be extremely odd that a us governor would not check in with the embassy."

us governor missing for a week. no wife, no kids, no security, no staff — who say he's hiking appalachia. he returns on a jet from argentina. no harm, no foul.

is it irresponsible to speculate? it would be irresponsible not to.

take it away, folks ...

@ john cole's balloon juice:

this is 798 different kinds of awesome. the spin that comes out of this should be framed and put into the smithsonian. this is going to be so damned funny.

i'm beginning to think now that he did have a blowup with his wife, she told him to GTFO, father's day or no father's day, and he did. staffer a: "she told him to take a fucking hike. what the hell do we say to the press?" staffer b: "charlie, you're a genius! that's exactly what we'll say!"

packing for hiking the appalachian trail in summer and visiting argentina in winter are not exactly similar.

who's paying for this trip? didn't he refuse to accept stimulus money on the basis that it would hurt sc's fiscal situation?

eliot spitzer (under pressure from many, including democrats) resigned for less.

i'd like to post something witty and insightful on this topic, but my brain is hung up on "wait, what?"

@ josh marshall's tpmmuckraker:

mistress had an abortion ... know [sic] doubt.

google 'sex tourism "buenos aires" ' and you will learn such fun facts as, "in fact, buenos aires is gradually becoming one of the most notoriously popular destinations for sex tourism."

so this is how the governor is burnishing his foreign policy bonafides for when he runs for president...

things that will now be funny to hear sanford talk about: importance of traditional family values. honesty fiscal responsibility accountability importance of sealing the southern borders.

i hear that the buenos aires airport bathrooms have nice stalls.

he told his staff he was "spiking some argentina tail," and they HEARD "hiking the appalachian trail". easy mistake to make.

@govsanford: went down to south america had a hard time sneaking back into the states. now i know how all those illegals from mexico feel.

i think he fathered a lovechild on one of his previous visits and the woman demanded that he spend father's day with little marco or else she would spill the beans.

those 'mystery solved' headlines from monday evening are looking pretty prescient, right?

scratch that 3 am test

remember the "3 a.m. test?"

it’s 3 am and your children are safe and asleep but there’s a phone in the white house and it’s ringing something’s happening in the world your vote will decide who answers that call ...

well, the phone in the south carolina governor's mansion has been ringing for four-going-on-five straight days now, including father's day weekend.

if the 3 a.m. test wasn't just campaign rhetoric — and it looks like still-awol mark sanford's proving it wasn't — i guess it's safe to add him to the weekly growing list of aborted republican 2012 presidential hopefuls:

the office of the lieutenant governor, andre bauer, is now telling reporters that the governor's office says it's reached sanford and that he's fine. (bauer would take over the governor's duties in an emergency.) but here's the thing: the governor's staff himself doesn't seem willing to confirm that directly to the press. ... in neither of these statements is sanford's office saying that they've been in touch with him. indeed, the clear implication is that they haven't been, or presumably they'd say they have. in fact, it's unclear how closely the office even knows the guv's whereabouts. if it did, why the need to track his cellphone location? and if he told his office, why didn't he tell his wife?

capture the flag

democratic candidate for georgia governor general david poythress launches his offensive against the republican secessionists:

for years, georgia's 8th grade students read in their history books about our state's decision to secede from the united states back in 1861. today, our students need only look at a daily newspaper to see that talk of secession isn't just a thing of the past. in fact, four of the six republican candidates said they would support georgia seceding from the united states of america. this is outrageous. this is absolutely disgraceful. it's a slap in the face to every patriotic american, to anybody who has served under the american flag and to those brave georgians who have fought and died for our country in iraq. what really offends me the most, is that none of these republican secession candidates ever wore, for a single day, the uniform of our country, carried a weapon, or heard a shot fired in anger. not one ever put their life on the line to protect our freedoms and liberty. but they recklessly call for secession from america. they would in effect, ban the american flag and end the pledge of allegiance. they would say to the world that when they don't get their way, they quit. that's just childish. that's cowardice, not leadership. real leadership means we work toward common sense solutions to protect american values, not just quit our country because we don't agree with other americans. united we stand. divided we fall. know this: when i'm the governor of georgia, i won't cut and run from america. when i say the pledge of allegiance, i mean it.

whether poythress has taken the hill is up to the people of georgia, but a good opening for a counterattack, if patriotism is an issue, is very hard to see. this race might be worth watching.

not just obama (expanded)

with the tragically lengthening string of killings of public servants bringing the predicted resurgence in right-wing violence into sharp focus, both digby and the booman ponder its apparently cyclical nature:

digby: were unbalanced people driven to act by all the crazy talk about clinton? are unbalanced people being so moved by obama’s rise today? by crazy and semi-crazy talk about him? von brunn, who killed a decent person, apparently believed obama isn’t a citizen. but then, corder and duran may well have thought that clinton kept murdering people. not to mention his drug-dealing ways!

booman: ever since the modern GOP started taking shape during the mccarthy era, i cannot think of a time except the beginning of the carter administration, when the democrats have been control of everything and the right didn't start acting crazy.

as someone who's recently made something of a hobby following right-wing narratives about the crooked kenyan usurper, i think part of the right-wing propensity to shoot up the joint during democratic administrations can be attributed to their deeply-held and sincere belief that only conservatives are fit to lead and that only a lazy and ignorant public could ever vote otherwise.

why do urban centers vote democrat, and rural republican? urban = those who get money from the government for sitting on their butts. rural or suburban = those who actually produce and have money confiscated by the government to give to the urban population so they will vote for the liberals who gave it to them.

because urban folk think meat comes out of a plastic wrapper. think about it.

if black voters voted like normal americans, that wouldn't be the case.

it's not just obama who's illegitimate; liberals as a class have never been legitimate.

liberals and anybody else who aren't conservative are only second-class citizens, while conservatives only ever lose their place at the helm through the treachery and outright thuggery of the left.

it's an evolution of patronage and the subversion of the system at the ward level which is the historic province of the democratic party. the democrats have always had a less-than-stellar respect for the franchise. they treat it as a form of currency, to be controlled and doled out to those they favor. this evolved throughout the 20th century with the largesse-campaign-vote cycle that centered around welfare. they buy votes with money in the form of 'entitlements'. it is a simple and odious evolution of patronage since it makes the patron the master and the voter into a slave. democrats buy votes with threats of mob agitation and promises of free lunch. of course, throwing in a bit of class envy for all to indulge in as they indoctrinate their starving audience in class warfare is just considered 'light' entertainment. in short, the cities vote democrat because the people there have either been bribed, been titillated with hate, been bought outright, or have been told they have no hope but the party. actually, now that i've summarized it - i am struck with the hideous, precise evil of it all.

any "conservative" thought to be helping liberals obviously was never a true conservative to begin with.

we already knew what george HW bush was, and that is Not a True Conservative and Not a True Republican.

and anyone who discredits conservatives can only be a liberal.

please. help me out here. is president [george W] bush really so vane and worried about his own legacy that he won't do what is right or will he go down as the last great liberal to let the supreme court decide america's fate.

bring it on lurkers and moonbats........... james von BRUNN. LIBERAL assassin, SOCIALIST, COMMUNIST, MOONBAT al Qaeda supporter born in amarica, american hater.

(von brunn might not appreciate the irony of being branded a ni**er by his erstwhile fellow freepers after shooting a couple ...)

since america is a free country, liberals are allowed to live here, but america will remain a free country only as long as they are never free to run it, because to ever allow them to exercise any real hold on power is to invite civil suicide ...

. . .it is nonetheless incumbent on us to recognize that, where they would obstruct policies and practices that shore up the freedom and security of america’s citizens, liberal democrats are no less dangerous to the freedom that we continue to enjoy than are islamist terrorists.

... therefore any means that can be used to break that hold is justifiable and necessary. keeping the world safe for conservatives is every conservative's patriotic duty as a citizen.

certifigate: a birther miscarriage

of the many ongoing heart-wrenching travesties of the certifigate drama, almost worse than birthers' failure to keep the kenyan usurper from stealing the election or boot him out of office, is the silence kept by a-list conservative movers, shakers and talkers on this excruciating constitutional crisis:

although i've heard explanation after explanation as to why there's a TOTAL CONSERVATIVE BLACKOUT of this topic, i still am not satisfied with their reasoning. just why in the hell are rush, hannity, beck, coulter, malkin, FoxNews, DrudgeReport, (and you fill in the blank) REFUSING TO DISCUSS THIS? what's in it for them? what in the hell are they afraid of? it's a total BLACKOUT. incomprehensible that not even ONE OF THEM HAS TOUCHED THIS TOPIC. this is disgusting!!!!!!!!!!! the guy is a muslim, kenyan born, illegal alien, doesn't even have a selective service number, is commander-in-chief of our armed forces, is sitting in the white house, bowing to our enemies, making a fool out of our constitution, trashing our country, and on and on and on. and NOT ONE WORD FROM ANYONE THAT WE'VE BEEN RELYING ON ALL THESE YEARS ... ONLY FREEREPUBLIC. WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON????????

those few that have spoken up thus far have chosen to drink the obama-aid:

bill o'reilly, fox news:

steven, troy il: why haven't you or the media addressed the questions regarding obama's birthplace and birth certificate? steven. steven, steven, steven ... how many times do i have to do it? how many times? i've already adressed it, many, many times. the birth certifigate is legal. he was born in hawaii. we have a copy of it. unless there is a masive fraud in the state of hawaii, which i couldn't prove, he's legal.

sean hannity, fox news:

now, the only thing, i don't know about the comment about god. but -- and he is an american, as far as we know, in spite of that birth certificate controversy, but we believe he is. so we've got to put those issues aside.

michelle malkin, national review:

i believe trig was born to sarah palin. i believe barack obama was born in hawaii on u.s. soil. i believe fire can melt steel and that bin laden's jihadi crew -- not bush and cheney -- perpetrated mass murder on 9/11. what kind of kooky conspiracist does that make me?

the traitorous repudiation and cowardly silence of mainstream wingnuts has deprived birthers of a vital source of validation that the right-wing noise machine has provided for twenty years.

until today, that is.

for reasons i'm sure we'll never know, after months of criminal silence, lord limbaugh, official crack supplier of what remains of the conservative movement, finally came out, on air, as a born again birther:

... obama does have something in common with god ... god doesn’t have a birth certificate either!

and there was much rejoicing in the land of the free:

WOOOOO HOOOO !!! thank you, rush!!!

i don't believe what i have just heard. thank you rush.

rush is flat out on fire......air tankes ain’t gonna control this fire

he mentioned the birth certificate 3 times already! maybe someone’s going to finally open up some worms.

man, i think rush is FED UP with the CRAP this loser and administration are doing to this country and he’s gonna FINALLY get this ball rolling! FOUR times so far in the last half hour?! how can any of those rush haters avoid this? this is like sticking a fresh slab of bloody meat in front of a den of lions!

THERE HE GOES AGAIN!! HOLY COW!! he’s gonna get this in the news for sure!!

the problem, of course, with opening up some worms and fresh slabs of bloody meat is that one never quite knows what one will catch:

associated press: an 88-year-old gunman with a violent and virulently anti-semitic past opened fire with a rifle inside the crowded u.s. holocaust memorial museum on wednesday, fatally wounding a security guard before being shot himself by other officers, authorities said.

talking points memo: he also wrote an internet posting complaining that obama's birth certificate and other documents have not been made public.

while i can't see more than a coincidental link between rush's bellyflop into the deep end of the birther cesspool and this shooting, his timing couldn't have been worse, and he knows it, as fox news' own shepard smith — one of their saner anchors — explains:

smith:	i read a lot of email around here. and the email, to me, has become more and more frightening. it's not a new thing, it's been happening over the past few months. it's been happening, y'know, to some degree, since the election process went along. i mean, we had a woman, we had a black man, he had y'know a lot going on. and there are people now who are way out there on a limb and i think they're just way out there on a limb with the email that they send us. 'cause i read it and they are out there. i mean out there in a scary place. i'm gonna read to you a little bit, from one, and i'm not gonna read the name, but this is, i promise, a representative sample of the kinds of things that we get here: shepard, how dare you tell us to get over obama not being a u.s. citizen? where is the birth certificate? where? he won't show it so why are you so trumped up to believe it? i cannot stand hussein! he is a socialist marxist who is at fast rate destroying our country. if you're one who believes that abortion is murder, at what point do you go out and kill someone whose performing abortions? well, i think we just learned from the killer of dr. tiller. if you're someone who believes these sorts of things about the president of the united states — and i could read a hundred of them like this! —
guest:	thousands.
smith:	i mean from today! people who are so amped up and so angry for reasons that are absolutely wrong, ridiculous, preposterous! yet they are mad, and they're very mad that i just called it preposterous.
guest:	well, if anybody wants to, to know the level of anger or, or whatever you want to call it, crazy, just take a spin around the blogs out there and on the internet, and just take half an hour, and go through, and randomly see what is being said, um, it is, um, frightening on a lot of different levels. and part of the problem, i think, is that they're feeding each other.
smith:	they are.
guest:	people are not going out there and, and ...
smith:	that's right. there on websites, the same people feeding each other fact, um, hate, that's not based in fact. and it's ginning itself up and i think if that's what you want to do with your time then that's what you do. but more and more it seems like people are taking the extra step of getting a gun out and ...

shep knows, as well as lord limbaugh's promoters, advertisers and sponsors, that email boxes and phone lines at msnbcbsabcnnfox will be clogging up at triple-rate after today. and that can't make them happy.

this is the reason, i suspect, rush waited so long. there have been no new revelations vindicating the birthers, so he obviously wasn't waiting for evidence. no, rush always knew the birthers are, as fellow conservative gasbag michael medved put it:

crazy, nutburger, demagogue, money-hungry, exploitative, irresponsible, filthy conservative imposters

... and rush knew there was a risk of certifigate spiraling out of his control, and he doesn't want to deal with their brand of headache. because, if you've got his megaphone and his money and you believe the president is a fraud, why wouldn't you shout it to the rooftops every hour of every day? and i'm sure rush does not want to talk about this every hour of every day.

but the birthers will demand that kind of commitment and will never be satisfied with anything less. this is one of those rare times when limbaugh's gonna wish he'd kept his drug-addled big fat idiot mouth shut.

certifigate: the docket

the score: 53 cases, 0 wins (i know, whatta surprise!), 37 denials or dismissals, 1 judgment against and 6 proposed bills, 3 dead. however, rep. bill posey (r-fl) no longer fights alone — his eligibility bill h.r. 1503 gained its first co-sponsor, rep. bob goodlatte (r-va).

new to this month's docket are the self-styled "citizen grand juries" metastasizing around the country, which hope they can find a prosecutor silly enough to file their monopoly-money "indictments" against obama. maybe if they add a ham sandwich as a co-defendant ...

to quote one jury supporter:

so, one person actually voted no out of 26. what good is joining in a grand jury if one is not serious enough to see all the evidence against BO and they foolishly voted no? i think that person was wasting their own time and the time of the grand jury.

SUMMARY Changes since last update (May 3)
Events	Current	Previous	Change
Lawsuits Known	53	48	+5
Lawsuits Dismissed/Denied	37	35	+2
Judgments For	0	0	0
Judgments Against	1	1	0
Bills Known	6	6	0
Bills Signed	0	0	0
Bills Failed	3	3	0
"Citizen Juries" Known	10	4	+6
"Citizen Juries" Indictments Issued	11	2	+9
"Citizen Juries" Indictments Prosecuted	0	0	0

BIRTHER LAWSUITS Challenges to Obama's qualifications
Case	Court	S/F	Status	Notes	Next Event
Ankeny v Daniels et McCain	IN	S	Dismissed	Article AG Letter Motion DIS Memo Motion OP Article
Berg v Obama et al	PA Eastern	F	Dismissed	Documents
	3rd Circuit Appeals	F	Filed	Brief FEC Brief O DNC
	SCOTUS	F	Denied
Berg v Obama	DC District	F	Filed, Sealed	Docket Listing
Brockhausen v Andrade	TX	S	Dismissed	Complaint Articles
Broe v Reed	WA Supreme	S	Dismissed	Article Order
Church of Jesus Christ Christian Aryan Nations of Missouri et al v Obama et al	MO West	F	Filed, Sealed	Complaint Article
Cohen v Obama	DC District	F	Dismissed	Prisoner Memo
Connerat v Browning	FL	S	Dismissed	Articles
Connerat v Obama	FL	S	Dismissed	Article
Corbett v Bowen et al	CA	S	Filed	Summary Notes
Craig v US	OK West	S	Judgment for Defendant	Complaint Order
	10th Circuit Appeals	F	Filed
Donofrio v Wells	NJ	S	Dismissed
	NJ Supreme	S	Denied
	SCOTUS	F	Denied	Application
Ealey v Obama	TX Houston	F	Dismissed	Complaint
Essek v Obama	KY Eastern	F	Dismissed	Order
Gleeson v McDonald et al	CA Southern	S	Filed
Gopalan v Obama III et al	CA Southern	F	Filed	Complaint
Greenberg v Brunner	OH	S	Dismissed with Court Costs	Outline Article
Hamblin v Obama & McCain	Arizona District	F	Filed	Complaint Docket Listing
Herbert v Obama et al	FL Middle	F	Dismissed	Complaint Report Order Article
Hollister v Soetoro	DC	F	Dismissed with Reprimand	Article Complaint Amend1 O Motion Order B Motion Op Order SC Order Disch B Response B Rejoin B Pro Hac O Reply Memorandum Order Reprimand
	DC Appeals	F	Filed		Jun 10
Hunter v Obama	SCOTUS	F	Dismissed	Article and Order
Judy v McCain et RNC	NV District	F	Dismissed
Kerchner et al v Obama et al	NJ	F	Filed	Article Article Amend 1 Amend 2	Jun 21
Keyes v Bowen	CA Superior	S	Dismissed	Petition Quash QuashPA QuashD Article Prelim Ruling
Keyes v Lingle	HI	S	Dismissed	Dismissal Recon Dism Article
Keyes et al v Obama et al	CA Central	F	Filed	Article Complaint	Jun 12
Lightfoot v Bowen	SCOTUS	F	Denied	Articles
Marquis v Reed	WA	S	Dismissed	Press Release Notes
Martin v Lingle	HI	S	Dismissed	Articles
Morrow v Obama	FL District	F	Dismissed	Prisoner Complaint Order
Neal v Brunner	OH	S	Dismissed	Notes Article
Neely v Obama	MI Eastern	F	Dismissed	Complaint
Roy v Obama	HI	F	Dismissed	Complaint Order
Schneller v Cortes	PA Supreme	S	Denied	Summary
	SCOTUS	F	Filed	Docket Listing	Jun 18
Stamper v US	OH District	F	Dismissed	Complaint Article, Order and Memo
Strunk 29641-08	NY Supreme	S	Filed	Notes
Strunk 29642-08	NY Supreme	S	Filed	Notes
Strunk 08-cv-4289	NY Eastern	F	Dismissed with Prejudice	Notes
	NY 2nd Circuit Appeals	F	Denied	Notes
Strunk v US Dept of State	DC	F	Filed	FOIA Response Motion Op Motion Dis Def Answer
Sullivan v Marshall	NC	S	Dismissed	Articles
Terry v Handel	GA	S	Dismissed with Prejudice	Order Appeal Article
Thomas et al v Hosemann	MS Southern	F	Dismissed with Prejudice	Article Order
Welch v Mukasey et al	NY	F	Dismissed
Wrotnowski v Bysiewicz	CT	S	Dismissed	Order
	SCOTUS	F	Denied	Article
"s/f" = state/federal. "article" = published non-judicial comment. "official" = plaintiff is suing the president in his official capacity. "prisoner" = plaintiff is in prison suing the president in his official capacity. see also the right side of life eligibility lawsuits page. see also free republic list of cases. compiled from dr. conspiracy's obama conspiracy theories docket project.

BIRTHER BILLS Requiring presidential candidates submit proof of qualification
Bill	Legislature	Sponsor(s)	Status	Notes
HR 1503	Congress	Bill Posey, Rep, R-FL Bob Goodlatte, Rep, R-VA	Refer'd to Hse	Bill Article Article
SB 474	MT	Aubyn Curtiss, Sen, R	Tabled	Bill Article
HB 1329	OK	Mike Ritze, Rep, R	Failed	Amend1 Amend2 Article Article Article
SB 1158	AZ	Russell Pearce, Sen, R Judy Burges, Rep, R Pamela Gorman, Sen, R Ron Gould, Sen, R Chuck Gray, Sen, R Jack Harper, Sen, R Thayer Verschoor, Sen, R Carl Seel, Rep, R	Read	Bill Article
HJR 34	MO	Robert Cooper, Rep, R Bob Nance, Rep, R Brian Nieves, Rep, R Cynthia Davis, Rep, R Dan Brown, Rep, R Don Wells, Rep, R Doug Ervin, Rep, R Doug Funderburk, Rep, R Dwight Scharnhorst, Rep, R Jason Brown, Rep, R Mike Lair, Rep, R Mike McGhee, Rep, R Rick Stream, Rep, R Shane Schoeller, Rep, R Walt Bivins, Rep, R	Withdrawn	Bill Article
HB 835	TX	Sid Miller, Rep, R	Filed	Bill Article

BIRTHER "GRAND JURIES" Meetings held to issue "indictments" against Obama
Group	Status	Charges	Notes
American Grand Jury (Online)	Indictments Issued (5)	Fraud, Treason	Website
Common Law Citizens Grand Jury (AZ)	Recruiting		Article
Arkansas Grand Jury	Indictments Issued	Fraud, Treason	Article
Common Law Grand Jury (GA)	Indictments Issued	Fraud, Conspiracy	Article
Illinois Grand Jury	Indictments Issued	Fraud, Treason	Article
North Carolina Grand Jury	Indictments Issued	Fraud, Treason	Article
Ohio Grand Jury	Indictments Issued	Fraud, Treason	Article
Rhode Island Grand Jury	Recruiting		Article
Tennessee Grand Jury	Recruiting		Article
Lone Star Grand Jury (TX)	Indictments Issued	Fraud, Treason	Article

the proper time and place

... for astounding hypocrisy.

yesterday, conservative commentator michelle malkin on the murder of dr. george tiller:

president obama is right about this: "however profound our differences as americans over difficult issues such as abortion, they cannot be resolved by heinous acts of violence." unfortunately, some are not content to leave it at that for now. they fail to respect that there is a proper time and place to indulge in political battle. ... tiller's family is grieving. those who have jumped to score political points before tiller is even buried are no better than the phelps family thugs of the "westboro baptist church" who respect no bounds of civility. unfortunately, it's too much to ask the cable news networks and hyper-partisan snipers on the internet to have the decency to restrain themselves. prepare for a wall-to-wall onslaught of gleeful finger-pointing on the left and heated responses on the right.

today, conservative commentator michelle malkin on this morning's murder of a military recruiter and wounding of another:

i wonder if the justice department will send marshals to beef up protection at recruiting centers — especially given the past targeting of military centers on campuses and elsewhere across the country. too early to say anything about suspect, motives, etc. but these facts are worth bearing in mind: flashback: special report: tracing the left's escalating war on military recruiters flashback: the continuing war on recruiters that the left doesn't want to talk about flashback: document drop: unclassified memo warns military personnel of anti-war threats to recruiters, army installations/facilities flashback: bastards: vandals strike at berkeley marine recruiting center again ... posted in: they don't support the troops, veterans

don't bother door

one of the advantages of the internet over pre-internet information gathering and dissemination is speed. it's often tedious and expensive to collect, publish, maintain and update any sizable body of knowledge. by allowing everyone to participate in the fun and allowing the always vaster number of information consumers to join or even supplant the always limited number of producers, not only does the internet allow daunting databases to be built much faster than before, it allows databases of esoteric knowledge that might never exist for lack of a profit model to be built by dedicated followers.

but one of the obvious disadvantages of this new production model is the swamping of the expertise and professionalism of small self-selected credentialed organizations by the amateurism and even mischief and malfeasance that large anonymous pools of contributors can be susceptible to. if information spreads faster on the internet, so does misinformation and disinformation and if it's always been true that a lie travels around the world in the time it takes the truth to put on its shoes, then the truth is just barely catching up.

these are neither novel nor profound observations but nowhere are they better illustrated than in online lyric databases. the amount of data involved has the disadvantage of being enormously vast while the pool of experts and standards has the disadvantage of being completely nonexistent while the task of collecting it has the disadvantage of being utterly profitless, making the area an ideal medium for error and garbage.

if there's one thing that's plainly obvious when browsing lyrics sites, it's that they swipe their entries from each other, mistakes and all. since there's no profit, there's no incentive for independent research, and since the sites don't own the data, they won't sue each other for infringement. if one site has an incorrect entry, they all have it:

lovin' spoonful — coconut grove lyrics it's really true how nothin matters. no mad, mad world and no mad hatters. no one's pitchin cause their ain't no batters in coconut grove. don't bother door. theirs no one comin. the oceans roar, were double drummin. of many silly thoughts and silly ways the ocean breeze has cooled my mind. the salty days are her's and mine just to do what we anna

the lovely and haunting coconut grove does not suffer from slurred vocals. john sebastian was no michael stipe yet the song's entry is not only riddled with absurd errors, but is also inexplicably incomplete. thankfully, former van halen frontman david lee roth covered the song, which somehow earned him an entry with more accurate lyrics:

david lee roth — coconut grove lyrics it's really true how nothin' matters no mad, mad world and no mad hatters noone's pitchin' cause there ain't no batters in coconut groove don't bar the door, there's no one comin' the ocean's roar will dull the drummin' of any city thoughts and city ways the ocean breezes cool my mind the salty days are hers and mine to do what we wanna tonight we'll find a dune that's ours and softly she will speak the stars until sunup it's all from havin' someone knowin' just which way your head is goin' who's always warm, like in the mornin' in coconut groove

but even roth's version diverges from the original complete lovin' spoonful rendition, in verse 5:

coconut grove by lovin' spoonful it's really true how nothing matters no mad mad world and no mad hatters no one's pitching 'cause there ain't no batters in coconut grove don't bar the door, there's no one coming the ocean's roar will dull the drumming of any city thoughts and city ways the ocean breezes cool my mind the salty days are hers and mine just to do what we want to tonight we'll find a dune that's ours and softly she will speak the stars until sunup it's all from having someone knowing just which way your head is blowing who's always warm, like in the morning in coconut grove the ocean breezes cool my mind the salty days are hers and mine just to do what we want to tonight we'll find a dune that's ours and softly she will speak the stars until sunup it's really true how nothing matters no mad mad world and no mad hatters no one's pitching 'cause there ain't no batters in coconut grove

the internet's great, but sometimes you still gotta do some things yourself.