}

Friday, September 05, 2008

Republican lies

The “media elite” (as named by the Republicans) have dubbed Sarah Palin a “star”: “Palin delivers star-turning performance for GOP” (AP). "A very auspicious debut, (Tom Brokaw of NBC), “A star is born” (Wolf Blizter and Anderson Cooper on CNN, Chris Wallace on Fox Noise). Yet, we know that the Republicans will continue to blame the “media elite” for everything that goes wrong in their campaign, and despite the warm afterglow, plenty has.

Not surprisingly, I’m not at all impressed with Palin or any of the other speakers yesterday night. The speeches were filled with lies and distortions or the usual mean-spiritedness for which Republicans are becoming renowned.

The biggest lie of the evening: Huckabee claimed that Palin had received more votes for mayor of her little town than Joe Biden did for US President. The truth is that Palin received 616 votes in 1996 and 909 in 1999 for a total of only 1,525. Biden on the other hand, received 76,125 in 23 states and DC. Huckabee, a Baptist preacher, ought to know that he shouldn’t bear false witness.

Romney issued a battle cry to “change from a liberal Washington to a conservative Washington! We have a prescription for every American who wants change in Washington—throw out the big-government liberals, and elect John McCain and Sarah Palin." Trouble is, the rightwing Bush-Cheney regime has been in control for nearly eight years. Republicans controlled Congress up until a year ago. So, if people want change in Washington, voting for Democrats is the only way to get change.

Palin shaded the truth, too. She claimed to have “championed reform to end the abuses of earmark spending by Congress” in which members of Congress get little-noticed cash for local projects. However, that’s not exactly true: As mayor, she hired a lobbyist for her town and frequently went to Washington to get more federal money. As governor, she got more money in earmarks per capita than any other US state got. The most famous earmark debacle was the “bridge to nowhere”, but she only opposed it after it became an object of derision.

She claimed that Barack Obama hadn’t written “a single major law or reform—not even in the state senate." That’s simply not true, and Republican Richard Lugar co-authored one of Barack Obama’s major bi-partisan pieces of legislation. He also sponsored major legislation in Springfield. She ridicules his voting “present” on a few dozen votes out of the thousands he cast in the Illinois State Senate, somehow forgetting to mention that this is a common tactic for Illinois legislators—including Republicans.

So what did I make of this day and it’s activities? The speakers were attack dogs spewing all sorts of nonsense and even lies without offering a single proposal for how to deal with the very real problems of ordinary Americans, or even seeming to understand the problems of ordinary Americans. We heard them ridicule community organisers—the people who help ordinary Americans to deal with the ruin caused by the Republican power elite. Of course they ridicule community organisers: They’re helping the people who Republicans care the least about, namely, everyone outside the Republican power elite.

The best antidote so far to this particular Republican spin: “Jesus was a community organiser; Pontius Pilate was a Governor.”

So far, the Republican Convention has been nothing more than a bunch of people screaming hate at the other party and offering nothing positive. If I were still a Republican, this convention would have been enough to make me quit. I don’t want more smug, cynical arrogance from the Republicans, I want change in America. I’m voting Democratic.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

legal documents Berg vs. Obama, Civil Action No. 08-cv-4083

Arthur Schenck said...

I don't normally respond to anonymous comments that are total bullshit, but I don't want anyone led astray: This is another Republican lie, this time masquerading as a PUMA attack.

Barack Obama IS a citizen of the United States. 1) One can only become a citizen of Kenya by physically claiming it in adulthood, which Obama never did; 2. One does not automatically become a citizen of any country through adoption alone and, further, dual nationality can only exist if someone claims it and has evidence, such as dual passports, certificate of naturalisation, etc. Even if the first two lies were true—which they are NOT—dual citizenship per se does not disqualify a person from the presidency, as there is no case law on the subject; the founding fathers and first presidents were all, technically, dual nationals as they were all born British subjects, a status not erased by the American Revolution alone.

The Constitutional requirement for being president is that a person must be a natural born citizen of the United States, and only a moron would claim that Barack Obama isn't.

The Supreme Court of the United States has stated that dual nationality is a "status long recognized in the law" and that "a person may have and exercise rights of nationality in two countries and be subject to the responsibilities of both. The mere fact that he asserts the rights of one citizenship does not without more mean that he renounces the other", Kawakita v. U.S., 717(1952).

So, the Supreme Court has ruled that simply being a dual national doesn't mean one is no longer a US citizen. But what if the lies about Kenya or Indonesia were true? The automatic acquisition or retention of a foreign nationality does not affect US citizenship; however, the acquisition of a foreign nationality upon one’s own application may cause loss of U.S. citizenship under Section 349(a)(1) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1481). However, in order for loss of nationality to occur under Section 349(a)(1), it must be established that the naturalisation was obtained with the intention of relinquishing US citizenship. Such an intention may be shown by a person’s statements or conduct. If the US Government is unable to prove that the person had such an intention when applying for and obtaining the foreign citizenship, the person will have both nationalities.

Barack Obama is a natural born citizen of the United States. He is not a citizen of any other country. I know what I'm talking about because I am a dual national upon my own application, though I made abundantly clear to anyone who would listen that I would not ever—under any circumstances—renounce my US citizenship, and so, I am a citizen of both the US and New Zealand.

You're welcome to try this bullshit attack on me if I ever run for President of the United States, but you'll have no more success then. In the meantime, I suggest you stop spreading Republican lies, because what you referred to are lies of the most heinous and contemptible kind.

Anonymous said...

My oh my you were an emotional little thing with that one. Here, let me help. It is a long read but very enlightening. The link will be last. McCain for president ? That is really scary. He sits in a room and sometimes doesn't even know where he is.



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