Obama Derangement Syndrome

Voiceover by D.C. Douglas.

Al-Qaida Confirms Bin Laden's Death

This won't mean anything to American deathers, of course.

Al-Qaida on Friday confirmed the killing of Osama bin Laden and warned of retaliation, saying Americans’ ”happiness will turn to sadness.” The confirmation came in an Internet statement posted on militant websites, signed by “the general leadership” of al-Qaida. The announcement opens the way for the group to name a successor to bin Laden. His deputy Ayman al-Zawahri is now the most prominent figure in the group and is a very likely contender to take his place. The statement, dated May 3, was the first by the terror network since bin Laden was killed Monday by U.S. commandos in a raid on his hideout in Abbottabad, Pakistan. The statement’s authenticity could not be independently confirmed, but it was posted on websites where the group traditionally puts out its messages.

The statement closes with a call to Pakistanis to "rise up in revolt" in protest of their government conspiring with the United States.

Rachel Maddow Rips The Deathers

The Rise Of The Deathers

Spreading fast all over the wingnut-o-sphere.

A multitude of different inside sources both publicly and privately, including one individual who personally worked with Bin Laden at one time, told us directly that Osama’s dead corpse has been on ice for nearly a decade and that his “death” would only be announced at the most politically expedient time. That time has now come with a years-old fake picture being presented as the only evidence of his alleged killing yesterday, while Bin Laden’s body has been hastily dumped into the sea to prevent anyone from finding out when he actually died.

Among the prominent promulgators of this nonsense is GOProud backer Andrew Breitbart, whose Big Government site now features death conspiracy posts. Breitbart says he's not a "friggin' deather," he just wants to promote "open debate." Uh huh.

UPDATE: JMG reader Russ points out this Breitbart quote: "If anyone can prove that I believe American special forces did not kill Osama bin Laden, I will donate one million dollars to ThinkProgress." And yet there's this on Breitbart's Big Peace:

The free world, particularly the United States, has a right to make sure Osama bin Laden is really dead. Every American has a right to walk right up to bin Laden’s corpse and view it. We are entitled to know for a fact that the witch is dead. No shroud for dignity’s sake, please – bin Laden’s naked, bullet-riddled corpse should be put on display in lower Manhattan for all the world to see. The entire body should be digitally scanned, inside and out – and made available for everyone to take his or her own picture.

Again With The Death Panels

Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-IA): We Shouldn't Be Pulling The Plug On Grandma

Speaking to an eager audience of teabaggers, Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-IA) repeats the death panel lie about euthanizing senior citizens under the health care reform bill. I can't wait until the death bed - plug pulling election ads start running.

Tripp Palin Enjoys Socialized Medicine

One more rung in Mee-Maw Palin's Hypocrisy Ladder:

The dangers of "death panels" were explained to Americans on Sarah Palin's Facebook page. Oh, sweet Lord, she must not sleep at night...her grandson could be the next victim of "socialized medicine". Recently released documents from the custody battle show clearly Tripp Palin Johnston has socialized health care through Indian Health Services and the Alaska Native Medical Center. Palin's family has federally funded health care afforded to them...but if you had it Barack Obama might kill you. Put this on the list of Palin's Greatest Hypocritical Hits...volume 97.

Not surprising in the slightest, is it?

Sarah Palin - Liar Of The Year

Fact-checking political site PolitiFact has chosen Sarah Palin's "death panels" claim as its "Lie Of The Year."

Of all the falsehoods and distortions in the political discourse this year, one stood out from the rest. "Death panels." The claim set political debate afire when it was made in August, raising issues from the role of government in health care to the bounds of acceptable political discussion. In a nod to the way technology has transformed politics, the statement wasn't made in an interview or a television ad.

Sarah Palin posted it on her Facebook page. Her assertion — that the government would set up boards to determine whether seniors and the disabled were worthy of care — spread through newscasts, talk shows, blogs and town hall meetings. Opponents of health care legislation said it revealed the real goals of the Democratic proposals. Advocates for health reform said it showed the depths to which their opponents would sink. Still others scratched their heads and said, "Death panels? Really?" The editors of PolitiFact.com, the fact-checking Web site of the St. Petersburg Times, have chosen it as our inaugural "Lie of the Year."

Congratulations, Ms. Palin.

Senate Committee Rejects Public Option

Moments ago:

Members of the Senate Finance Committee on Tuesday rejected an amendment to a sweeping health-care overhaul bill that would have created a government-run insurance plan option. Authored by Sen. Jay Rockefeller, D-W.Va., the amendment failed by a vote of 15 to 8. Rockefeller said a so-called "public option" would have offered a competitor to private insurance companies.

Congratulations to the deathers, the teabaggers, the GOP, World Net Daily, the wealthy, the Christianists, the well-insured and everybody else who said, "Fuck you, poor people, I gots mine."

Olbermann Vs. Racist Wingnuts

Keith Olbermann ticks off the last year of anti-Obama racism. Required viewing.

A Cavalcade Of Crazy

Maddow Show Takes On WorldNetDaily

Guest host Ana Marie Cox takes on the world's craziest conservative site.

NY Sen. Ruben Diaz Invites Sarah Palin To "Death Panel" Hearing

Nutcase NY Sen. Ruben Diaz, the minister widely credited with thwarting marriage equality here, has invited Sarah Palin to appear as a witness before a New York Senate Aging Committee hearing on health care reform.

The witnesses invited include a host of officials from the medical, political, private insurance, and non-governmental world -- each with a clear area of expertise on the topic of caring for the elderly. Then there is Palin. The former Alaska Governor's health care policy contribution is defined by a brief Facebook message she wrote in early August in which she warned that Democratic reform would create "death panels" tasked with determining who to euthanize, including her child with Down Syndrome. Palin has not yet accepted or declined the invitation to attend the September 8 hearing, according to Diaz's office. As for why she was invited, Cathy Bern-Smith, a spokesperson for the senator, noted that in another Facebook entry, Palin had referred to "a letter that Senator Diaz wrote to [Rep.] Henry Waxman, (D-Calif.), that was posted on the senator's website." "There was this Internet conversation going on where she made a comment on her post about something the senator had said," Bern-Smith added. "So we thought, well let's invite her."

Diaz and Palin. Now there is an opposite marriage made in wingnut heaven.

(Tipped by JMG reader Joseph P.)

Fox News: "Real" Americans Are Taking Back The Nation!

"I'm here because I'm a real American and I want to take this country back from Obama and his czars!!" Followed by the usual cries of socialism and digs at Nancy Pelosi.

Is The Public Option Dead Again?

Politico reports today that White House aides have revealed that President Obama does indeed plan to back away from the public option portion of his health care reform plan when Congress returns from its summer recess today

Obama’s willingness to forgo the public option is sure to anger his party’s liberal base. But some administration officials welcome a showdown with liberal lawmakers if they argue they would rather have no health care law than an incremental one. The confrontation would allow Obama to show he is willing to stare down his own party to get things done. “We have been saying all along that the most important part of this debate is not the public option, but rather ensuring choice and competition,” an aide said. “There are lots of different ways to get there.” The timing, format, venue and content of Obama's presentation are still being debated in the West Wing. Aides have discussed whether to stick to broad principles, or to send specific legislative language to Capitol Hill. Some hybrid is likely, the officials said.

"Some hybrid." In other words, the deathers are probably going to get their way.

RELATED: The AFL-CIO says they will not support any reform bill that doesn't include the public option.

Teabagger: I'm A Proud Right Wing Terrorist! GOP Rep: God Bless You!!

GOP Rep. Wally Herger (R-CA) is going to have some explaining to do after praising a man who bragged that he was a "proud right-wing terrorist." Herger: "Amen. God bless you. There's a great American!" Democrats are demanding that Herger apologize for endorsing terrorism.

(Via - Americablog)

Clown Hall: Man In Obama Mask Whips Elderly Outside Howard Dean's Speech

VA: Teabaggers Booted From Howard Dean's Town Hall Appearance

Rep. Tim Moran (D-VA) booted out protesters who were drowning out DNC Chairman Howard Dean's speech. Good for him. Anti-abortion nutcase Randall Terry was among those kicked to the curb.

GOP Eating Their Own

Today when Sen. John McCain cautioned the crowd at his town hall meeting to be respectful of the president, saying that he believes Obama respects the Constitution, McCain's audience booed him. In the second clip, the crowd gives a standing ovation to a woman who demands that illegal immigrants not receive any health care.

Quote Of The Day - Michele Bachmann

“We all need to consider that in God’s timing that he may have allowed us, as members of Congress, to be in the position that we’re in just for this specific issue right now. Everything that all of us have worked together and labored for over the years, all of it could be undermined with this one bill. President Obama realizes that. The radicals that are on the pro-abortion left, they realize that. They could win it all. And the unborn, and the vulnerable, the disabled and those at the end of life could lose it it all. That’s really where this battle will be won — on our knees in prayer and fasting. Remember: faith without works is dead. So we’re asking you to do all of it: pray, fast, believe, trust the Lord, but also act." - Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-MN) calling on her constituents to pray and fast for the failure of the health care reform bill.