The Republican Lies, Implied Lies, and Ignorance

by Tex Norman⁽⁷⁸⁾

Obama is not an American

In the Missouri General Assembly, over 15 Republican members have signed on to a state constitutional amendment. This state constitutional amendment implies that Obama was not born in the United States and therefore is illegally serving as President. The claim of these 15 Missouri "Show Me" Republicans is that this bill would serve "as a defense against corruption, fraud, and tyranny."

Look at the actual language from this state amendment:

For candidates who are required by the Constitution of the United States to be natural born citizens, the secretary of state shall request an official copy of the candidate's birth certificate. Other certifications, such as a certificate of live birth, shall not be accepted. Should any candidate fail to provide an official birth certificate within thirty days of the request by the secretary of state, his or her name shall not be placed on the ballot.

This is an issue that surfaced early in the campaign by people who opposed Obama and wanted to disqualify him from running for President. The opposition has come to be known as Birthers. These mostly Republican Birthers have focused on the State of Hawaii 's refusal to release the original of Obama's birth certificate. The craziness of their objection is that Hawaii state law bars the release of the original. So the only way this issue will die in the hearts and minds of Republican Birthers is if the state of Hawaii violates its own state law. No one, conservative or liberal, who has looked into this issue has any question that Obama was born in the United States . Are the Birther Republicans telling a lie, implying a lie, or just ignorant of the facts?

Why don't Republican leaders correct these statements? If they are ignorant of the facts, shouldn't the leaders of the Republican Party step up and correct their mistake? By allowing lies, implied lies, or ignorant beliefs to come out of the mouths of Republican leaders makes the party look like a gathering of gnat brained, fools, and that is not fair to the majority of Republicans.

Iraq Attacked the US on September 11 th

Former White House spokesman Ari Fleischer defended President Bush's legacy recently, on Hardball, and stated, and this is an exact quote:

It was in part because of Iraq and large part because of the economy that Barack Obama won. Having said that, I also think Barack Obama should say thank you every day that he inherited a world without Saddam Hussein in it. The one thing people are going to remember the most is that he [meaning President Bush] kept us safe. . . . But after September 11th, having been hit once, how could we take a chance that Saddam Hussein might not strike again?

Again? Ari Fleischer, in 2009 is still saying Bush could not take a chance that "Saddam Hussein might not strike again." But the truth is Saddam Hussein didn't strike us the first time. I know Mr. Fleischer claims he didn't mean Hussein was behind 911, but look at the statement closely:

"after September 11 th , having been hit once. . . Hussein might not strike again." Mr. Fleischer can back peddle if he wants to, but he did clearly imply that Hussein was behind 911 and that he might do it again so that is why we had to go to war and stop him.

No clear thinking person, conservative or liberal, who has looked at the facts, believes that Iraq had anything to do with the September 11 th attack on the United States . Is Mr. Fleischer telling a lie, implying a lie, or just ignorant of the facts?

Why don't Republican leaders correct these statements? If they are ignorant of the facts, shouldn't the leaders of the Republican Party step up and correct their mistake? By allowing lies, implied lies, or ignorant beliefs to come out of the mouths of Republican leaders makes the party look like a gathering of gnat brained, fools, and that is not fair to the majority of Republicans.

The Levitation Train from LA to Vegas

The Republican Party though their hand selected spokesperson, Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal, claimed on TV that the Obama stimulus package contained $8 million tax payer dollars in it for a magnetic levitation train. Here is the exact quote:

While some of the projects in the bill make sense, their legislation is larded with wasteful spending. It includes $300 million to buy new cars for the government, $8 billion for high-speed rail projects, such as a "magnetic levitation" line from Las Vegas to Disneyland . . .

There is nothing in the bill that lists anything about a specific train from LA to Disneyland , or from to Vegas. There is some language about funding high speed trains as job creating projects and as part of our nation's infrastructure, but no specific train is mentioned, with no specific destinations. For Jindal, representing the Republican Party to say there is a magnetic levitation train running from Vegas to Disneyland is a lie, an implying a lie, or Jindal was just ignorant of the facts, and if that was true the leadership of the Republican Party should have come out and corrected the error. Not to correct the error makes the entire Republican Party look like liars or ignorant fools, and I don't believe that is true of all Republicans.

The Real Republican Beliefs

If you can believe a recent poll conducted by GOP pollster Tony Fabrizio the base of the Republican Party does not represent the majority of Republicans. Mr. Fabrizio found that most Republicans voters support basic fairness for all Americans including gay. Most Republicans, according to their own GOP pollster, support the elimination of "don't ask-don't tell" a Clinton provision that kept gay soldiers from serving openly in the military.

49% of Republicans believe gays and lesbians should be able to serve openly in the U.S. military.
43% of Republicans support either marriage equality or civil unions.
53% of respondents agree that "the Republican Party has spent too much time focusing on moral issues such as abortion and gay marriage and should instead be spending time focusing on economic issues such as taxes and government spending."

Republicans do hold some fiscally conservative views:

78% of Republican voters polled believe we should balance the federal budget
66% of Republican voters polled believe the government is too big
80% of Republican voters polled believe the federal government spends too much
69% of Republican voters polled believe taxes are too high and only 1% believe they aren't high enough

If you are fiscally conservative and really believe those positions then support them, and let us have a national discussion of these ideas. The thoughtful discussion of possible fiscal solutions to our economic woes doesn't happen, because the core base of the Republican Party is spreading lies, or implying lies, or they are giving too much microphone/TV camera time to ignorant people who like to flap their gums.

Article submitted Monday, March 23, 2009 & read 1564 times.

Tex Norman is a social worker, currently working at the Oklahoma DHS Abuse and Neglect hotline. He interviews people reporting abuse and/or neglect of children and vulnerable adults and writes a narrative. The narratives (and demographics) are used to initiate investigations of the allegations. He says it is like writing 8 to 10 stories a day. In August 2012, he will have been married to Kathie for 40 years. He has a son Ryan who earned a PhD from Princeton and he is now a scientist doing research in molecular biology. Tex spends his free time working as an artist and writer. He has one art site, and a blog that might be of interest: http://tex-norman.artistwebsites.com/ and http://collagepoetrybytex.blogspot.com/

Please log in to leave your comments.
No comments yet.

50-63-3-0-9-ADSO

Most Recent