The Political Fish

Los Angeles California Representative Diane Watson (D) at a townhall meeting heaped praise on the Cuban Revolution, Che Guevara, and the allegedly wonderful Cuban healthcare system (wondering why they try to float to Florida on cars). Oh yeah, and in the process towed the Democratic party line of race-baiting anyone who disagrees with the President.

Apparently Los Angeles talk radio station KABC AM-790 was the only news outlet to cover this astonishingly irresponsible comments…take a listen.

Makes you wonder why Cubans do whatever they can to get to South Florida doesn’t it? I mean, in this womans shockingly naive worldview, Cubans got it made!!

This statement is chocked full of stuff to pick through. All the birthers out there can have her statement about “electing a President from Kenya and Kansas”. I thought it was Hawaii?

Thanks to Michelle Malkin for typing out the transcripts to this poor womans idiotic statement. Maybe it will sink in better if you can read it.

WATSON: You might have heard their philosophical leader. I think his name is Rush Limbaugh. And he said early on, “I hope that he fails.”

Do you know what that means? If the president, your commander-in-chief, fails, America fails.

Now, when a senator says that this will be his Waterloo, and we all know what happened at Waterloo, then we have him and he fails. Do we want a failed state called the United States?

And remember: They are spreading fear and they are trying to see that the first president that looks likes me fails.

Now just understand what’s at the bottom line.

And you know we just got, 48 hours ago, we just go back, we were in Beijing, China, Hong Kong, China, we were in Taiwan, we were in Guam, we were all over the Far East.

I just want you to know: People look at the United States as a country that has changed its way and has elected someone from Kenya and Kansas, I’ll put it like that.

And they’re saying, “We thought you would never do that.”

So we don’t want to have this young man, and he just turned 48 — we want him to succeed, because when he succeeds, we regain our status. We regain our status.

It was just mentioned to me by our esteemed speaker, “Did anyone say anything about the Cuban health system?”

And lemme tell ya, before you say “Oh, it’s a commu–”, you need to go down there and see what Fidel Castro put in place. And I want you to know, now, you can think whatever you want to about Fidel Castro, but he was one of the brightest leaders I have ever met. [APPLAUSE]

And you know, the Cuban revolution that kicked out the wealthy, Che Guevara did that, and then, after they took over, they went out among the population to find someone who could lead this new nation, and they found…well, just leave it there (laughs), an attorney by the name of Fidel Castro…

One final question, who the heck were these people clapping for this woman? Is there really an element of society this dumb?

ThePoliticalFish.com already has one Rickards writing columns, so why not two? Granted, I have not been blessed with the writing talents of my older brother, so I’m going to take this space in a different direction. Instead of the long-winded op-ed, I’m going to take a page from the Twitter-verse, retro Bill Simmons articles, and Larry King’s rambling USA Today columns, and unleash what I like to call “Disgruntled Thoughts.”

- If Sarah Palin were President and doing everything that Obama is doing, she would be crucified by the media.

- Or she would have quit by now.

- Number one reason why Birthers should give it a rest: President Joe Biden.

- Number two reason why Birthers should give it a rest: The Left loves it.

- Not that I’m complaining, but where were Al Sharpton and Jesse Jackson during the entire “Cop – Harvard Prof – Obama” event?

- If President Clinton’s trip to North Korea taught us anything, is that he still knows how to get the ladies.

- Anyone who thinks that Nationalized Health Care is a good idea should stand in line at the DMV.

- I went to DC and did the tourism bit. Rumor has it that the Clinton monument is going to look a lot like Washington’s.

- Speaking of Clinton’s… if Obama continues to tank, I would not be surprised if Hillary mounts a successful challenge in the 2012 primary.

- And she’d probably win the Presidency.

- Especially if “Clinton / Biden” is running against “Palin / Huckabee”.

- I hope the Republicans can take back Congress, if for no other reason than to repeal the law that says we have to switch over to those crappy light bulbs some time in the next decade.

- Liberals love environmentalism, largely because it is their only issue that won’t be proven wrong for 100 years.

- Although if we continue to see mild summers like this one, maybe sooner.

- Why is it that Republicans are the only ones who appoint Supreme Court Justices who wind up wussing out and voting completely against what they were supposed to stand for? Where is the Democrat version of David Souter?

- No, it’s not Sotomayor.

- I’m probably one of the few Conservatives who believe that we should have a higher tax rate on the top earners in this country. I just believe that the threshold should be a lot higher than $250,000. Why not have a 50% tax rate on $10 million and above, and lower the rates on every other income group?

- And for the record, I am all for jacking up taxes on celebrities, entertainers, and athletes.

- The easiest way to spot a moron is if they’re smoking a cigarette.

- The second easiest way to spot a moron is if they’re advocating the Fair Tax.

- Nancy Pelosi says that she knows the protestors at town hall meetings are fake because they’re dressed well. Of course they’re dressed well — compared to the unbathed liberals who protested every move by President Bush, they must look like they’re dressed by King Solomon.

- The breakdown of American political beliefs is roughly as follows: 40% conservatives, 20% liberals, 40% moderates. If the Republican party fails to win elections with those numbers, they should cease to exist.

He'd probably run a better campaign than Rudy.

- No, seriously. Look at the Whigs. Curse you, Henry Clay!

- Speaking of Whigs, I believe that William Henry Harrison is one of the most underrated Presidents in American History. A 2009 CSPAN had him 39 of 42. Now, Harrison died in 30 days, and thus had no impact on America. Are you telling me that ONLY three presidents had a worse-than-no impact on America? Harrison should definitely be somewhere in the middle.

- On the other hand, that same poll had Jimmy Carter at 25. Jimmy Carter wouldn’t even be in my top 25 list of peanut farmers I’d like as President.

- For the record, the top of that list is Mr. Peanut. By far.

Before I get ripped on for being a “birther” and called every name in the  book, have comments talking about my mother, and basically derided as a right-wing loon…check out my ACTUAL position on the whole birth certificate controversy, and realize that I’m just stoking the fire a little bit, and having some late night blogging fun! Check ‘em out here and here.

As I browsed the internet tonight, I stumbled across some interesting information. Of course the world now knows about the Kenyan document which allegedly verifies the birther claims, and curiously enough, it seems that according to the Department of State website, Hillary Clinton is on her way to Kenya right now. Curious timing to say the least. With the ink not even dry on the Kenyan document, Hillary is heading straight over, some might say to pick it up for her boss. Just a thought!! No posted agenda is on the State Department website to confirm her mission to Kenya, so let the conspiracy theories fly!!

Now, of course I am joking here…and merely stoking the flames of the conspiracy theory that nobody wants to acknowledge. But seriously for a moment, given that this conversation is even going on, let alone reaching a fever pitch, does it not seem odd to send your top diplomat over to Kenya? It did to me, and I don’t buy into this “birther” stuff. I am a doubter, who needs to see proof in a court of law, not on the web. Until it is proven legally, I don’t buy it. But are the Beltway folks that insulated that they do not even see the serious irony in this?

Bring on the hateful comments, I am ready and expecting them! But I hold on to my belief that the President can very easily make this go away. In fact, politically it may even be the wise thing to do, soften up the public on the healthcare issue, if he shows the people that he is actually listening to their concerns. I would respect him much more than I do if he would be as transparent as he said he would be, even if only on this issue.

By the way, nice of Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid declaring today that he would not give one minute of time in the Senate to the birth certificate issue. Only one problem Senator Reid, you just did by making that statement and putting into the Congressional Record. Brilliant I tell you!!

The birther conspiracy continues to heat up and become more a mainstream talking point, despite everyone in the mainstream media and liberals in general dismissing the notion as a lunatic right-wing conspiracy. CBS News’ blog The Political Hotsheet ran a piece today, which clearly showed that the MSM is simply not willing to do any journalistic investigating on an issue which, like it or not, has hit the mainstream and is causing a ruckus in the political landscape. Sadly, the blog states in the opening paragraph that conspiracy theories flourish in the wake of traumatic, or game changing events…and weakly compares the election of Barack Obama to history-altering events like 9/11, the Kennedy assassination, and landing on the moon. While the election of a black President is definetely historical, it pales in comparison to any of the above mentioned events…CBS continues to show itself to be in the tank for the administration, by its outright refusal to even begrudgingly do their job and investigate these claims.

Listen, I am not a birther. I think the Manchurian candidate that is being pushed around out there is highly unlikely. However, this Certification of Live Birth is not evidence. This would not silence anybody at all. With a little web savvy and a professional graphic designer, I could also post this up on the web for all to see. Robert Gibbs continues to reference the above jpg. as the sole evidence needed to validate the Presidents credentials and requirements for eligibility. The media continues to decry these “nuts” as never letting this one go…but that’s actually not true at all. These right-wing nut jobs, or birthers (you gotta love the creativity of the media when it comes to perjorative terms) can and will be silenced…it will only take one move.

The President can silence the birthers once and for all.

But, he won’t. The President ran a campaign based on transparency in government, but refuses to even acknowledge the sound of millions of Americans screaming for the truth. For this conspiracy really to be true, it would have taken decades of planning for the installation of the Manchurian candidate, or Kenyan candidate as the case may be. Its a pretty unlikely scenario, however anything at all is possible. The President who preached to us about unity, closing the bipartisan divide and open government refuses to be open about who he really is. All records of Barack Obama prior to his public service have been considered off limits. This of course includes the original long-form birth certificate. I agree with Andrew Sullivan on this matter wholeheartedly…check out the Daily Dish from 7/29.

The whole birth certificate issue gets weirder still:

“I, Dr. Chiyome Fukino, director of the Hawaii State Department of Health, have seen the original vital records maintained on file by the Hawaii State Department of Health verifying Barack Hussein Obama was born in Hawaii and is a natural-born American citizen. I have nothing further to add to this statement or my original statement issued in October 2008 over eight months ago….”

But why are we supposed to rely on the testimony of Dr Fukino, whom I believe entirely. It is not my job as a journalist or yours as a citizen to take public officials on trust. They are not to be trusted, whoever they are. It is our job to demand all the evidence we want or need. I know the electronic record is legit. I have no doubt that Obama has every constitutional right to be president. I think the Birthers are nuts. But there is no reason on earth that the original cannot be retrieved and shown. Jon Klein and CNN were wrong, and I retract my apology of yesterday.

Obama promised total transparency. Where is it? Or will it arrive at the moment when he tackles the deficit, and withdraws from Iraq?

When will we get this transparency? The entire issue is annoying, not because of right wingers continually demanding answers. It’s annoying because it could have, and should have been silenced by now. Frankly, if the President continues to refuse to show the records of his birth, his schooling, and his life prior to his public service in Illinois, it makes him look like there is something to hide. That is why the “birthers” won’t go away. It is unprecedented for the President of the United States to stonewall against all information about himself…Bush never did it, Clinton, Reagan, Carter…its never happened before. I mean, George W. Bush even released his college records, informing the world that he was a fairly poor student.

So, all that to say this. What is there to hide? If there is nothing to hide…be transparent. This is exactly what you promised the nation that you currently lead.

Interesting that this keeps coming up.

I am not really a big fan of this “conspiracy theory” but it seems to be a conspiracy with a lot of legs and life behind it. I haven’t been able to find myself falling in line with the birth certificate issue 100%, however, as much as Gibbs would like to downplay it as non-sense and made up fiction, it is obviously an issue. An issue I might add that could very easily be put to bed.

With a little web savvy, I could also come up with a birth certificate for myself and post it up for the world to see. How hard would it really be to produce a long-form birth certificate as proper documentation? It would serve the President well, as well as Mr. Gibbs to walk into the White House briefing room, hold up the real birth certificate and make it all go away.

I choose to give the President the benefit of the doubt on this one, but it seems like an awful lot of stonewalling going on for an issue as novice as this. It could so easily be put to rest, and then we  could move on. While I give him the benefit of the doubt, I am watching carefully the court cases being fought by Dr. Orly Taitz, and the lawsuits being filed by military personnel. Its exceptionally important, as the Constitution clearly states the requirements for the commander-in-Chief.

To dismiss the detractors, which have now hit the mainstream media establishment, as well as the White House Press corp, as crazy loons, while the whole time stonewalling what they are looking for simply makes the administration look…well…guilty. Put the issue to rest, then the birthers will go away. A grainy picture of a short-form birth certificate is not putting it to rest. There is no reason at all we as a country should not be able to point back to the history of the man who is running the country. We can go back to Hope Arkansas and learn about the history of Bill Clinton, including all pertinent record leading up to the White House. Seems we cannot do that with Barack Obama. My question is why?