Barack Obama is the Devil, and he is planning a coup to take over the country.
Tonight at dinner, my 85-year-old grandfather made this statement. He is a lifelong Republican, but is always fair-minded when it comes to politics - even defending President Clinton during his impeachment.
Yet, for whatever reason, he has fallen victim to the fear mongering from the far-right. But something else has also changed. Republicans, faced with the political reality that they will be out of power for the next few election cycles, decided to not play out-of-power politics as usual (simply attacking the policies and players from the other side and hope that they convince enough people to see things their way next November) but instead are intent on convincing citizens that unless they act now, the entire country will be destroyed (insert evil laughter here)!
Much is documented about the fear machine that is the Fox News Channel - and in my grandfather’s case, Fox is a primary source for his assertion at dinner. But, there are other influences as well. Specifically, the direct-mail campaigns of special interest groups. I took a look at his stack of mail, and decided to put one online as an example of this phenomenon. Believe me, there is much more where this came from.
A plain white envelope with giant printed letters in Halloween-esque font reading “January 20, 2009: The Day the U.S. Constitution DIED” caught my attention. It was a letter from something called the “United States Justice Foundation”, and signed by its executive director Gary Kreep (I know, I know). After the usual right-wing plesantries of telling the reader how they are “fighting the homosexual radicals in court by defending passage of Proposition 8” yet somehow simultaneously “defending your rights as an American,” he gets to the meat of his letter: “the biggest constitutional crisis ever faced by the United States.”
I uploaded the entire letter here, but below are some of my favorite excerpts:
The fact is, rumors have been circulating for months that Barack Obama was not born in Hawaii as he claimed, but was actually born in what is now Kenya. The evidence is convincing… especially a taped conversation with Obama’s grandmother in Kenya who said she was present at his birth in Africa.
But wait… isn’t this Barack Obama’s Birth Certificate?
Sure, his website featured a “birth certificate” that Obama claims as evidence of his status as a “natural born citizen.” But that document — which has modern computer printing instead of a typewriter font that would have been used in 1961 — is obviously not a copy of his original birth certificate.
You know, Gary, I lost my birth certificate a few years ago. I contacted the county clerk from where I was born and they printed me up a new one lickety split. Couldn’t Barack have done the same thing? And plus, if he was forging his birth certificate to run for President, this seems like a pretty silly mistake. Oh and Snopes.com found a copy of little Barack’s birth announcement from the August 1961 Honolulu Star-Bulletin and Honolulu Advertiser.
Even though he was sworn in on January 20, 2009, Barack Obama is not legally the President of the United States, unless he can prove that he is a natural born citizen. What’s more, every action taken by him while he occupies the White House may be illegal. If he cannot legally be President, every law passed by Congress will be null and void.
I’m pretty sure he’s the President. I mean, people call him “Mr. President” and everything. But if he isn’t, that’s good for you, then? It’s like that bailout you hate so much didn’t really happen! Whose going to go ask for the money back?
And the United States Justice Foundation is going to legally challenge each and every “offical” act Mr. Obama makes as President
Wow. It sounds like you’re keeping busy.
Are you willing to see the Constitution shredded by the Left? Will you sit back and do nothing while a foreigner illegally occupies the White House as President of the United States?
Will you ever just sit back and shut up?
Letters like these, combined with Fox News and other conservative outlets, are creating a crazy person’s echo chamber. Previously, these rumors would say just that: rumors. They would be discredited, and 99% of everyone would move on. But today, spouting your lunacy is not only popular, but profitable. Gary Kreep and his organization raised over $2.5 million in direct-support in 2007 (warning: pdf).
Even though I got a huge laugh when I first read this, it’s actually sad for me. Once someone starts down this path of crazyness, you can’t get them back. My grandfather taught me about politics when I was in middle school - and although it was clear early on that we had different views - his fundamental ideas of respect, decency, and level-headedness when dealing with the other side stay with me today, even though they don’t stay with him.
Good post… This reminds me of something my grandfather said during the democratic primaries.
“I would really like Barack Obama if he wasn’t a muslim”He is a long time Democrat and is one of the most tolerant people I know. Yet since my grandmother developed alzheimers he began watching news pretty much one hundred percent of the time and has several friends who send him emails from the smear campaigns. Like a lot of people who were over the hill long before the internet became wide spread he has serious fallings when it comes to reading emails. He reads them all for one. Secondly he does not understand how smear campaigns create fabrications and can legally get away with them. So he reads the plethora of fearmongering emails talking about how he is muslim or related to Saddam because of his middle name.
To be honest when he said it we were just stunned… I looked up and slowly wondering if this was a joke said, “Ummm….. he isn’t?” but then lead onto the more important point, “um… and why would that matter?”
But this type of statement would never have been possible without fox or the smear campaigns or any of the bigotry that creates dislike for him. Just an interesting similarity of circumstances.
