Crazy right-wing myths about Obama 2.0

[Beorn]

Crazy right-wing myths about Obama 2.0

During the presidential campaign nutty right-wing rumors about Barack Obama swamped the Internet. Via mass e-mails, fearful conservatives were told that the Democratic nominee was a dangerous radical and a secret Muslim who would take the oath of office with his hand on the Koran. A whole conspiracy cult embraced the belief that Obama was not a natural-born U.S. citizen and was thus ineligible for the presidency. The Obama campaign had to build a Web site just to debunk the viral mythmaking.
After winning the election, President Obama, who was born in Hawaii (see his birth certificate here) was sworn in on Abraham Lincoln's Bible. He went to church on Easter Sunday. The supposed Manchurian candidate can't even get Gitmo closed properly, much less lead the Senate in a chorus of "The Internationale."

But the mythmaking has not stopped. The wheels of rumor grind fast, but they grind exceedingly dumb. Marooned on a grassy knoll of the mind, the right has spun new and scarier fantasies about the president, tales that would send any patriotic, gun-toting Christian fleeing across the border to Canada, if only the Canadians weren't so damn socialist. We present for your inspection, and then debunk, or paw at in desultory fashion, a dozen of the choicest conspiracy theories to gain traction since Jan. 20. We could print more, but we grow weary. (And by the way, Obama is still a Muslim foreigner.)

Myth: Obama can't function without a teleprompter, even uses it for answers at press conferences.



Who's spreading it: Rush Limbaugh; TeleprompterPresident.com

What they believe: "Barack Obama's use of teleprompters is becoming legendary. He doesn't go anywhere without them and rarely, if ever, speaks without their assistance." This has been a theme of Rush Limbaugh's since early in the campaign last year. Sean Hannity has joked, rather ickily, on Fox News about whether Obama sleeps with the teleprompter between him and Michelle. Right-wing bloggers argue Obama is totally incompetent without the prompter and can't speak off the cuff. The theory is widespread enough that a Web site has been devoted to it: TeleprompterPresident.com, which not only studiously collects Obama's bloopers but also retails other preposterous Obama conspiracies. (Note the nice Photoshop job in this "picture" of Air Force One flying over New York City's skyline.)

What is real: Presidents have been using teleprompters for more than 50 years, and notecards for even longer. It's true that Obama uses the prompter, specifically, more than most of his predecessors. He uses them for casual announcements and the lead-ins to press briefings, and on the campaign trail last year, he even set his teleprompter up in the ring of a rodeo. Irish Prime Minister Brian Cowen recently started reading from Obama's script, after an aide mixed up the two leaders' speeches.
But charges that he is "incapable of forming his remarks and speeches without reading them verbatim," or that he avoided one-on-one contact with U.K. Prime Minister Gordon Brown because the teleprompter would have made it awkward, are insane. Obama has written two books, given hundreds of unscripted speeches and interviews on the campaign trail, and even now goes on in great detail, and great length, during question-and-answer sessions with voters, lawmakers and reporters.
"Whether he's using notecards or a different method of reading his notes, I don't think anybody cares," a White House aide told Salon, after asking incredulously why this article was even being written. In fact, listening to Obama speak without notes, it's tempting to think his advisors want him to use the teleprompter in part because it keeps him from getting too involved in what he's talking about, rather than because he can't speak without it. At his first prime time presidential press conference, his answers dragged on so long he had time for only a handful of questions. But the aide wouldn't concede that his boss is -- left to his own devices -- a little wordy.


Myth: Barack Obama is the Antichrist.

Who's spreading it: Get in line. If you have an idea for a "Barack Obama is the Antichrist" Web site, the URL is probably already taken (www.barackobamantichrist.blogspot.com; www.obamaantichrist.blogspot.com; www.beastobama.com). It's also hard to blame any particular individual for preaching the bad news about Barack Obama being the Antichrist when a Google search for "Barack Obama is the antichrist" gets you nearly 800,000 hits and just searching for "Barack Obama" and "Antichrist" together gets you 2.2 million.


What they believe: That, um, the president is Satan. Or Satan's son. Or maybe he's just the warm-up act for Satan. At the very least, he likes the devil.
The evidence? Why, Nostradamus predicted his coming. Obama bears traits resembling the Antichrist, according to former "Saturday Night Live" cast member and current Christian wactress Victoria Jackson. He sends subliminal messages to his minions and to his master, Satan. Also, Jesus' biblical prediction of the coming of the Antichrist describes him as coming as "lightning from heaven"; that translates to "baraq o bama" in Hebrew. And if Obama were not the Beast foretold in Revelation, why would the nickname for his presidential limo be -- the Beast? And, why, on the day after his election, was the winning number in the Illinois lottery 6-6-6?

What's real: The winning number in the Illinois Evening Pick 3 Lottery on Nov. 5, 2008, was 6-6-6. And his armored-plated 2009 Caddy is nicknamed the Beast. But Obama is probably not the Angel of the Bottomless Pit, the First Horseman, or the Seed of Satan. If he is, well, then we're wrong about a whole lot of other things too.

Cont. here

[SwordoftheVistula]

A lot of these aren't really crazy.

'Myth': Obama can't function without a teleprompter, even uses it for answers at press conferences.

But, they admit that:

It's true that Obama uses the prompter, specifically, more than most of his predecessors. He uses them for casual announcements and the lead-ins to press briefings, and on the campaign trail last year, he even set his teleprompter up in the ring of a rodeo. Irish Prime Minister Brian Cowen recently started reading from Obama's script, after an aide mixed up the two leaders' speeches.

And Obama's overuse of the teleprompter is certainly more ridicule-worthy than the previous president's 'Bushisms' which came under relentless attack.

Myth: Barack Obama is the Antichrist.

Obviously nuts, as is any other 'Antichrist' theory. Few people actually believe this, Salon just threw this one in here to add to the theme.

'Myth': Led by Obama, Democrats are planning to reinstitute the Federal Communications Commission's Fairness Doctrine, eviscerating right-wing talk radio in the process.

Yes, many Democrats like to grumble about talk radio, and yes, some have said they'd like to bring back the Fairness Doctrine. But even Fox News has reported that the White House has no plans to do that. Obama "does not believe the Fairness Doctrine should be reinstated," a spokesman told the network less than a month into his term.

They floated a 'trial balloon', meaning that they get non-leadership Congressmen/Senators or friendly media organs to propose something. If the proposition gets an overwhelmingly negative response, as in this case, the proposal goes nowhere and is denied by the leadership, but as Salon admits it's something they would do if politically feasible.



'Myth': Obama's stimulus provided cash for a "levitating train" between Disneyland and Nevada brothels.

The stimulus included $8 billion for high-speed rail, but to this date the projects that the money will be spent on have yet to be chosen...a sentence from an Associated Press story declaring that "[Senate Majority Leader Harry] Reid's office issued a statement noting that a proposed Los Angeles-to-Las Vegas rail could get a big chunk of the money."...Reid has, in the past, supported the construction of a "maglev train" that would take Southern California tourists to Las Vegas

So, not really a 'crazy myth', as money could well be spent on a mag-lev train between SoCal and Vegas

'Myth': Obama is a socialist.

'Myth': Obama is a fascist.

'Myth': Obama has created his own version of the Hitler Youth.

industry nationalization in the air...during the campaign, Obama said he wanted to "spread the wealth around."...His banking plan bends over backward to buy up toxic assets while avoiding buying up whole banks...quasi-nationalization of GM

The banks and GM are controlled and funded by the government, so that's socialism. Even if the banks ostensibly are private, they are no longer controlled by private owners (shareholders)

It expands AmeriCorps and other existing volunteer programs, devoting $6 billion over five years to creating 175,000 new service jobs and creating new volunteer corps to deal with energy, education and healthcare. It does set up a commission to investigate whether mandatory national service

Also socialist

He wants to use competition to universalize healthcare

This itself is a 'myth', since any government run health insurance provider turn into a monopoly and put private plans out of business, since the government run program would have an essentially unlimited source of funding and be able to operate at a loss indefinately, something difficult for private monopolizers.

If this is the road to fascism, the American people aren't feeling oppressed -- they're riding shotgun.[links to Obama's high poll numbers]

Ok, so Obama has high poll numbers...like all the other fascist leaders. Hardly debunking of a 'myth'.

Who's been spreading it: Glenn Beck, but especially Jonah Goldberg...the fasces have been on the dime -- as well as on all the rest of our symbols -- since before the term "fascism" came into English.

Glenn Beck and Johah Goldberg aren't coming up with any crazy theories about the fasces on the dime. Only some crank internet sites that nobody takes seriously.

'Myth': Republican Chrysler dealers were targeted for closure.

The reason so many of the closed dealerships were owned by Republican donors? Well, almost all car dealerships, period, are owned by Republicans.

Ok, but why did the dealers, 'almost all owned by Republicans', have to suffer such a huge hit without compensation, while the unions, all of which support the Democrats, get off so lightly, especially when it was the unions and not the dealerships which made Chrysler uncompetitive in the first place?

'Myth': The president wants to raise my taxes.

Obama will raise taxes -- just not on most of the people who are worried about it. For those who make under $250,000 a year (the vast majority of Americans), Obama's tax plan will either lower income taxes or leave those taxes unchanged.

That's income taxes. Obama is following a path taken by many governors, which is to leave income tax rates the same but raise taxes everywhere else. In his first few months of Obama's administration, taxes on tobacco products were raised by about 25%, similar taxes on food and alcohol have been proposed, not to mention the 'cap and trade' energy tax which will act as an indirect tax on all energy use. Plus, all the increased deficit spending will eventually have to be paid for somehow.

The tax increases, which by most estimates amount to $1 trillion over 10 years, are targeted at the incomes of top-tier earners, as well as their capital gains and itemized deductions, such as charitable donations. Obama wants to use the increased tax revenues to pay for healthcare

What was that about socialism again?

Making the myth even more ridiculous is that even with Obama's tax raise on the wealthy, the top tax rate in the nation will still be far lower than it was during the reign of Ronald Reagan, that great beacon of conservative economic policy.

That is a misrepresentation: the top marginal income tax rate was high when Reagan came into office, during his term he was able to reduce it. One might as well say "Iraq and Afghanistan were occupied during the reign of Obama"

'Myth': The president is taking aim at the Second Amendment and wants to take our guns away.

Obama has supported gun control in the past, but since he's taken office and during the campaign, his main concern has been reinstituting the ban on assault weapons that was allowed to lapse during President Bush's administration. Yet Obama acknowledges that putting the ban back in place isn't politically viable right now

'politically not viable right now' means he does indeed want to, but is just unable to do so.

Even Obama's nomination of Sonia Sotomayor has triggered a boost in gun stocks.

Well yes, because she opposes the recent Supreme Court ruling which extended the 2nd Amendment gun rights to be against state laws (incorporated via the 14th Amendment, as the 1st Amendment and others have long since been).

[finironcross]

He's a negro marionette. Who cares what he does. The people with power work in the background, like his chief of staff.