The occasional open thread: Who will archive the archives?

Put your Obama conspiracy comments that don’t relate to the current articles here. This thread will close in two weeks. Perhaps they will be archived and persist until the end of the universe.

About Dr. Conspiracy

I'm not a real doctor, but I have a master's degree.
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87 Responses to The occasional open thread: Who will archive the archives?

  1. Sluffy1 says:

    ebook.

    Birthers – the Rise and Fail
    By Dr. Conspiracy

  2. bgansel9 says:

    The “Papers Please” section of SB-1070 has just been revived.

    How does this play into the federal case against Arpaio? What can other law enforcement do here? If I understand this correctly, it seems the District Judge says she believes local law enforcement can arrest undocumented people and adjudicate through local courts. WTH?

    The Arizona Republic has apparently missed the scoop, but, the Arizona Daily Star has it, as well as Fox 10 Phoenix and a bunch of local valley papers: http://tucson.com/news/local/border/judge-upholds-papers-please-provision-of-sb/article_4074a82e-008f-519f-9abe-4f5a369fdc02.html

    Arizona State Senator Catherine Miranda is planning to hold a rally and press conference on Tuesday.

    Any thoughts on how it all plays out and what it means?

  3. Dave B. says:

    So it turns out it’s all just positioning, getting ready for 2020–
    http://www.ifreepress.com/trump-hoping-for-2020-matchup-against-kanye/

  4. I’d like to see some good legal commentary on how this decision is distinguished from Melendres.

    bgansel9: The “Papers Please” section of SB-1070 has just been revived.

  5. scott e says:

    do you mind if i post all of my comments that you deleted ??

    not here… obviously.

    [None of my business. Doc.]

  6. bgansel9 says:

    Dr. Conspiracy: I’d like to see some good legal commentary on how this decision is distinguished from Melendres.

    Yeah, that was exactly my thought. I wonder if any of the legal experts here would like to take a stab at it?

  7. The Magic M (not logged in) says:

    Dave B.: So it turns out it’s all just positioning, getting ready for 2020–
    http://www.ifreepress.com/trump-hoping-for-2020-matchup-against-kanye/

    So 2028 it will be Taylor Swift vs. Beyoncé?

  8. RanTalbott says:

    Dr. Conspiracy: I’d like to see some good legal commentary on how this decision is distinguished from Melendres.

    Well, you could say that Bolton’s decision was about “theory”, while Melendres is about “practice”.

    What Bolton said was that, even though most of the people who actually get busted as a result will be Hispanic, that’s simply a result of the fact that most of the ones “at risk” in AZ are. In theory, the Swedes and Canadians overstaying their tourist visas are just as much at risk, so the law isn’t inherently discriminatory.

    What Melendres shows is that, in practice, the cops may well discriminate based on race. But the remedy for that is supposed to be spanking the cops that do, not overturning the law they’re misusing.

    I think the “papers please” provision will be repealed when enough suburban white parents get pissed off by having to fetch their US-born kids from the police station because they went to the mall without passports. It’ll turn out to be an especially bad example of what can go wrong when people cheerfully give up what they think are only other people’s rights.

  9. From the Wikipedia:

    “Some Latino leaders compared the law to Apartheid in South Africa or the Japanese American internment during World War II.[29][122] The law’s aspect that officers may question the immigration status of those they suspect are in the country illegally became characterized in some quarters as the “show me your papers” or “your papers, please” provision.[123][124][125][126] This echoed a common trope regarding Germans in World War II films.[123][127] Such an association was explicitly made by Congresswoman Jan Schakowsky of Illinois.[127] Congressman Jared Polis of Colorado and Los Angeles Councilwoman Janice Hahn also said the law’s requirement to carry papers all the time was reminiscent of the anti-Jewish legislation in prewar Nazi Germany and feared that Arizona was headed towards becoming a police state.[71][128] Cardinal Roger Mahony of Los Angeles said, “I can’t imagine Arizonans now reverting to German Nazi and Russian Communist techniques whereby people are required to turn one another in to the authorities on any suspicion of documentation.”[129] The Anti-Defamation League called for an end to the comparisons with Nazi Germany, saying that no matter how odious or unconstitutional the Arizona law might be, it did not compare to the role that Nazi identity cards played in what eventually became the extermination of European Jews.[130]”

    As I get this, there has to be a legal arrest or detention before suspicion allows them to inquire as to immigration status. Arpaio was arresting and detaining based on suspicion.

    RanTalbott: I think the “papers please” provision will be repealed when enough suburban white parents get pissed off by having to fetch their US-born kids from the police station because they went to the mall without passports.

  10. RanTalbott says:

    Dr. Conspiracy: As I get this, there has to be a legal arrest or detention before suspicion allows them to inquire as to immigration status.

    You’re right. There was a a lot of outrage about the fact that SB1070 said “any lawful contact”. It’s been a few years since that debate, and I forgot that HB2162, enacted in response to various criticisms of SB1070, amended it to “lawful stop, detention, or arrest”.

  11. AnyDayNow says:

    I was just thinking about the irony of a certain aspect of the birther claims. Early on, birthers started to form the notion that all those who disagreed with them were ‘Obots’ who were so mentally feeble that we actually worshipped Obama as some sort of ‘Savior’, because we were Commies, or Muslims, or just because we are inherently evil (I never really did understand the reasoning of the claim…no surprise there). And, that it was this irrational worship of Obama that blinded us to (or allowed us to ignore) his ‘crimes’ because we figured that our Savior could do no wrong. It is obviously a ridiculous claim because most Obots that I know have plenty of complaints about the President and the job that he is doing. We do not support him blindly, we just don’t believe the birther nonsense. Now, other than being a false claim, it has always struck me as ironic because if anyone had a ‘Savior Complex’, it is the birthers. First, Orly was their Savior, and she could do no wrong, no matter how many times she embarrassed herself in a courtroom with her incompetence. Then, Arpaio/Zullo replaced Orly, and no matter how many times Arpaio and Zullo strung them along nobody dared to ever doubt them (think about it, really… how were Arpaio and Zulllo able to get away with “any day now” for YEARS???). And any who did question A/Z, even loyal birthers, were immediately cast out as Obots in disguise. Now that even the hard core believers can’t keep up the charade of having any faith left in A/Z (it is no longer forbidden to publicly doubt them), just in the nick of time Trump hits the stage and now has filled their ‘Savior Void’. Even though every time he is asked about the Birther issue, he OBVIOUSLY tries to play it down and change the subject (even going so far as to say something to the effect of “that’s not something that we are worrying about right now”) because he isn’t stupid and knows that it will sink him if he gets linked to it again. But if you listen to the regulars, they all believe that this is some sort of ‘stealth strategy’ and that Trump is just waiting for ‘the right time’ to bring it up because if he did he would ‘win the election in a landslide’ (giggle). Or the others who think that he is just waiting to get into the White House, and THEN he will start the purging of all the millions of ‘complicit traitors’, he will arrest and execute Obama and all the rest of us…blah, blah, blah. No matter how many disappointments, they never doubt their Savior…..until they can’t take it anymore and then they just replace Saviors.

    So, the next time you hear a birther talking about how Obots are stupid and dangerous because they blindly worship a false Savior…just realize like I do that they are describing themselves without even knowing it, and each time I read one, I can feel the corners of my mouth curl up just slightly.

  12. bgansel9 says:

    AnyDayNow: So, the next time you hear a birther talking about how Obots are stupid and dangerous because they blindly worship a false Savior…just realize like I do that they are describing themselves without even knowing it, and each time I read one, I can feel the corners of my mouth curl up just slightly.

    Seems they treated St. Ronnie the same way. No? I think they are religiously addicted to saviors.

  13. Comment directed to me at BR today:

    “Doc Obot,

    “Has Trump said if he’ll do a dragnet of all the Obots when he’s elected? When Obama’s on trial I guess all the operatives on Internet will be rounded up for jail too. What jail are you going to be sent to?”

    AnyDayNow: So, the next time you hear a birther talking about how Obots are stupid and dangerous because they blindly worship a false Savior…j

  14. I think Trump may topple Obama on Wednesday like the French Revolution took down the French king that day.

    — Geir Smith
    — Comment at Birther Report

  15. bgansel9 says:

    Dr. Conspiracy: “Has Trump said if he’ll do a dragnet of all the Obots when he’s elected? When Obama’s on trial I guess all the operatives on Internet will be rounded up for jail too. What jail are you going to be sent to?”

    What’s the charge? We’re not allowed our freedom of speech? LOL

  16. Northland10 says:

    bgansel9: What’s the charge?We’re not allowed our freedom of speech? LOL

    The Constitution applies only to “real patriots” not the people who disagree with them.

  17. bgansel9 says:

    Dr. Conspiracy: I think Trump may topple Obama on Wednesday like the French Revolution took down the French king that day.

    — Geir Smith
    — Comment at Birther Report

    Gee, we only have to wait two days to debunk this bit of crazy. What fun!

  18. bgansel9 says:

    Northland10: The Constitution applies only to “real patriots” not the people who disagree with them.

    That’s insane (and they aren’t real patriots – case in point, I found a Trump supporter today who said they wished Donald would completely destroy the country so that “we can start over again.” Nothing patriotic about them.)

  19. Pete says:

    So what’s Trump supposed to do on Wednesday?

    Sheesh, the nutty just gets nuttier.

  20. Trump will be at a Tea Party rally in DC opposing the Iran nuclear deal.

    Pete: So what’s Trump supposed to do on Wednesday?

  21. Something is messed up at Birther Report. If I try to enter a longish comment the tab crashes in the Chrome browser. Microsoft Edge gets really slow. I can only thing that it’s come kind of a script gone haywire. It’s not the Intense Debate plug-in because Gerbil Report(tm) has no such problems.

  22. bgansel9 says:

    Dr. Conspiracy: Something is messed up at Birther Report.

    And this is news HOW? (sorry, I couldn’t resist.) 😛

  23. The Magic M (not logged in) says:

    bgansel9: I found a Trump supporter today who said they wished Donald would completely destroy the country so that “we can start over again.”

    That’s the essence of being a Trump supporter – the belief he, of all people, would be the one to throw everything out so it’s 1776 all over again (no Messicans, no free blacks, no wimmin voting, and whoever got the biggest gun is right).

  24. Dave B. says:

    More down-home tRump goodness:
    http://www.rawstory.com/2015/09/trump-says-going-to-military-school-gave-him-more-training-than-actual-service-members-report/comments/
    The little imp got himself sent off to military school, so he’s more military than the military. So there.

  25. AnyDayNow says:

    Dave B.:
    But getting back to tRump,
    http://www.wired.com/2015/09/maybe-trump-just-borrow-obamas-campaign-logo/

    This is BRILLIANT! I love how clever it is and how simply but perfectly it reduces Trump to mockery! Thanks for sharing! Can’t wait to pass it around!

  26. Kate says:

    Dave B.:
    More down-home tRump goodness:
    http://www.rawstory.com/2015/09/trump-says-going-to-military-school-gave-him-more-training-than-actual-service-members-report/comments/
    The little imp got himself sent off to military school, so he’s more military than the military.So there.

    I find it difficult to believe that anyone who has served in the military could actually support this buffoon considering these types of comments. I’m sure he was dodging enemy fire while at military school!

  27. Dave B. says:

    It’s the christian thing that has me shaking my head.

    Kate: I find it difficult to believe that anyone who has served in the military could actually support this buffoon considering these types of comments.I’m sure he was dodging enemy fire while at military school!

  28. Crustacean says:

    Sometime in the wee hours that commenter left this chilling little love note in the same thread (drunk *and* crazy? Oh my!):

    “I advocate Trump get his police to find you Kevin Davidson.”

    I’ve always thought the inmates at BR are projecting when they cry about Obama’s tyranny and the incarceration or execution of political opponents. But it’s still disturbing to see it go from latent to blatant.

    And the thought of Donald Trump having his own police force makes me nauseous…

    Dr. Conspiracy: Comment directed to me at BR today:

  29. Kate says:

    Dave B.:
    It’s the christian thing that has me shaking my head.

    IMO, it’s because those who claim to be Christians and follow Trump, wouldn’t be considered Christians by those who truly are. Look at his childish insults and juvenile tantrums whenever he is criticized by anyone. When he made the remark that he’s never had to ask God for forgiveness, that told me all I needed to know about Trump. He doesn’t believe in anything but himself! He didn’t name a favorite Bible verse because he was unable to do so, not because he thought it was too personal.

  30. The Magic M (not logged in) says:

    Kate: He didn’t name a favorite Bible verse because he was unable to do so, not because he thought it was too personal.

    Fun fact: Trumps actual favourite Bibble quote is “In the beginning, The Donald created the Heavens and the Earth.”

    (The Trump Bibble then continueth: “Then came the Messicans and it all went downhill from there.”)

  31. Dave B. says:

    Hence the small “c”.

    Kate: IMO, it’s because those who claim to be Christians and follow Trump, wouldn’t be considered Christians by those who truly are.Look at his childish insults and juvenile tantrums whenever he is criticized by anyone.When he made the remark that he’s never had to ask God for forgiveness, that told me all I needed to know about Trump.He doesn’t believe in anything but himself!He didn’t name a favorite Bible verse because he was unable to do so, not because he thought it was too personal.

  32. Dave B. says:

    A friend of mine and a very fine fellow indeed has recently moved to Kenya to teach optometry. Here’s his blog on the difficulty he’s experiencing in coming up with the necessary…certificates:
    http://johndanieltwelker.com/2015/09/09/locks-certificates-and-polite-rainstorms/
    He’s in Kakamega, about thirty miles from Kisumu.

  33. Lupin says:

    If your country was a person, you’d be under legal guardianship since 2003.

  34. Dave B. says:

    Great Jade Helm comment:
    “I survived Jade Helm and all I got was this smirk.”
    http://soldiersystems.net/2015/09/09/jade-helm-happened-and-no-one-was-oppressed/comment-page-1/#comment-772431

  35. donna says:

    Trump And How The Media’s Birther Blind Spot Keeps Getting Bigger

    “By too often turning a blind eye to the birther juices fueling Trump’s ascension, the press overlooks a defining trait in conservative politics today.”

    http://mediamatters.org/blog/2015/09/09/trump-and-how-the-medias-birther-blind-spot-kee/205446

  36. Andrew Vrba, PmG says:

    With tomorrow being the 14th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks, I fully expect birthers to somehow try and pin it all on Obama.

  37. Keith says:

    Andrew Vrba, PmG:
    With tomorrow being the 14th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks, I fully expect birthers to somehow try and pin it all on Obama.

    Personally, I am not sure if Obama was responsible for 9/11 or not.

    But he darn well was responsible for Peal Harbor.

  38. RanTalbott says:

    New at BR: ABC News reports that “Donald Trump Flip-Flops on Canada-Born Ted Cruz’s Eligibility to Run”.

    “I hear it was checked out by every attorney and every which way and I understand Ted is in fine shape,” Trump told ABC News just before speaking at a Capitol Hill rally blasting the Iran nuclear deal.

    I wonder if he heard that from “watching the shows”…

    Needless to say, the gerbils are not pleased. But, on the plus side, one of them posted links to a couple of nice “sad trombone” sound effect clips on Youtube. Could come in handy next time one of them comes around to whine 😉

  39. I ran across this on Facebook from one or our contributors. It is my opinion that these reports do not fairly represent what Mike Huckabee said. This is the article that I read:

    http://www.rawstory.com/2015/09/mike-huckabee-dred-scott-decision-is-still-the-law-of-the-land-regardless-of-14th-amendment/comments/

    What Huckabee said was:

    “Because that’s their phrase, ‘it’s the law of the land,’” Huckabee explained. “Michael, the Dred Scott decision of 1857 still remains to this day the law of the land which says that black people aren’t fully human. Does anybody still follow the Dred Scott Supreme Court decision?”

    I think he meant that the Supreme Court decision in the same-sex marriage is equally the law of the land as Dred Scott–something that nobody follows. In any case, the headlines would lead the hasty reader to say that Huckabee supported Dred Scott, which he does not.

    justlw:
    Hully crap.Uncle Mike’s a 14th Amendment denier.

    http://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow-show/huckabee-dred-scott-still-the-law-the-land

  40. roadburner says:

    much wailing and gnashing of teeth over at BR over trump supporting cruz’s eligability….

    http://www.birtherreport.com/2015/09/flip-flop-donald-trump-now-says.html

    those tears…so sweet!

  41. gorefan says:

    Salon article on birther said and the main stream media.

    http://www.salon.com/2015/09/10/birtherism_goes_mainstream_partner/

  42. Andrew Vrba, PmG says:

    roadburner:
    much wailing and gnashing of teeth over at BR over trump supporting cruz’s eligability….

    http://www.birtherreport.com/2015/09/flip-flop-donald-trump-now-says.html

    those tears…so sweet!

    When I saw that article go up, I knew the comments were gonna be good. Was not disappointed!

  43. RanTalbott says:

    roadburner: much wailing and gnashing of teeth over at BR over trump supporting cruz’s eligability…

    The conspiracy theorizing is even better. It ranges from “Trump has been gotten to” to “It’s a ploy to set up The Universe-Shattering Reveal™” “Arpaio’s support of Trump proves they’re both part of the NWO plot”.

  44. Daniel says:

    Once again we’d all do well to heed the wisdom of AL.

    https://youtu.be/w-0TEJMJOhk

  45. RanTalbott says:

    Dr. Conspiracy: Emergency hearing in Melendres last Thursday.

    Interesting tidbit from the article:

    Snow also ordered lawyers for Maricopa County to resend documents they owe all parties, since they had initially provided thousands of records in a non-searchable PDF format.

    Will they bring in Zullo’s “experts” to check the new files for layers and other “anomalies”? Irey seems to be idle while he’s waiting for a hundred people to sign his petition to Trump. At the current rate of sign-ups, he should be available all week. 😈

  46. donna says:

    Sheriff Joe Arpaio has always done it his way

    The office of ‘America’s Toughest Sheriff’ has cost the county millions of dollars, and he may be facing his toughest court fight ever.

    http://www.azcentral.com/story/news/arizona/investigations/2015/09/11/sheriff-joe-arpaio-legacy/71888720/

  47. RanTalbott says:

    There’s a section in that Republic story entitled “A return of the birther investigator” with a few interesting tidbits, some of which appear to differ from Lemons’ reporting. Most notably, that the $120,000 payment came from one of the posses, not from MCSO funds. It also says that Monty worked on the birfering first, then came to Arpaio with his claims about people being spied on. And that the “flowcharts” showing the alleged conspiracy came only when the MCSO started hassling him about not producing on the “spying” investigation.

    So it may turn out that Monty wasn’t actually brought in specifically to go after Snow. The hearings should be very interesting.

  48. But, but, but, where did the CCP get that kind of money? And why did MCSO testify that the money was RICO funds?

    I’m thinking that this is a mistake in the story. Recall Doc’s Law: Every major news article on birthers will have a significant error of fact in it.

    RanTalbott: Most notably, that the $120,000 payment came from one of the posses, not from MCSO funds.

  49. RanTalbott says:

    Dr. Conspiracy: But, but, but, where did the CCP get that kind of money?

    I dunno, let’s check their financial statements.

    Oh, wait: we can’t.

    The Republic article doesn’t say which posse(s) the money came from, and might be wrong. Or it might be revealing yet another payment that wasn’t identified in Lemons’ articles but was part of that large, vague estimate. It’s not beyond possibility that Pat Boone, or some other rich fan, dropped a big wad on the CCP that hasn’t been disclosed.

    I’m only saying that, just as the Lemons articles revealed aspects of Zullo’s doings that we didn’t get from Reilly, the Republic might be on to some that we didn’t get from Lemons.

  50. bgansel9 says:

    Dr. Conspiracy: I’m thinking that this is a mistake in the story. Recall Doc’s Law: Every major news article on birthers will have a significant error of fact in it.

    They’re still hiding the true cost of this sheriff from Maricopa county taxpayers.

  51. Keith says:

    Dr. Conspiracy: But, but, but, where did the CCP get that kind of money? And why did MCSO testify that the money was RICO funds?

    My working hypothesis is that the CCP ‘investimgation thing-a-mie’ was two things: a framework for sucking money out of marks who could be convinced that it was a real thing, and a way to convince his blue hair constituents in Sun City to keep those campaign donations coming and to be sure and vote early and often.

    To me, nothing explains it as convincingly: he puts his hand up for some of the Koch largess and shores up his dwindling support base all in one go.

    Crazier things have happened. The Melbourne Australia suburb of Rosstown changed its name to Carnegie to try and convince Andrew Carnegie to build them a library. He didn’t and it took until the 1990’s for them to get one. So much for sucking up to the big donor folk.

  52. There has been an update to one of my anti-spam plug-ins. Perhaps this will fix the issue with some folks being flagged as spammers even though they are in my allow list.

  53. bgansel9 says:

    Jade Helm is officially over and Obama didn’t throw a bunch of crazy rightwingers into FEMA camps: http://www.rightwingwatch.org/content/jade-helm-15-over-and-obama-didnt-even-invade-texas

    Bwhahahahahahahahaha!

  54. Andrew Vrba, PmG says:

    bgansel9:
    Jade Helm is officially over and Obama didn’t throw a bunch of crazy rightwingers into FEMA camps:http://www.rightwingwatch.org/content/jade-helm-15-over-and-obama-didnt-even-invade-texas

    Bwhahahahahahahahaha!

    So of course the gormless idiots like Louie Gohmert will be all like “We stopped this thing that was never going to happen anyway, from happening!”

  55. bgansel9 says:

    Andrew Vrba, PmG: “We stopped this thing [that was never going to happen anyway,] from happening!”

    FIFY and you’re welcome. 😛

  56. Northland10 says:

    Dr. Conspiracy:
    There has been an update to one of my anti-spam plug-ins. Perhaps this will fix the issue with some folks being flagged as spammers even though they are in my allow list.

    It appears to be working now.

    ETA, from a moving train on my iPad.

  57. bob says:

    1. Irey (and Corsi and Gilbert) were on Peter Boyles’ show today. And I’m sure they all had new, fascinating things to say. 🙄

    2. The recent Arizona Republic article about Arpaio has been edited to reflect that Montgomery “was paid” $120,000 (previously, the article reported “a posse” had paid Montgomery).

  58. Keith says:

    Interesting interview of Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer by Colbert.

    I missed the monologue but apparently Colbert cracked: “Normally Breyer sits next to Clarence Thomas, so I hope he’s not startled when I actually talk.” 😎

    (the link appears to be to the Australian edition, hope you folks can find it OK)

  59. The Magic M says:

    bob: 1. Irey (and Corsi and Gilbert) were on Peter Boyles’ show today. And I’m sure they all had new, fascinating things to say.

    Lemme guess: “We need to flood Congress with angry letters”? *lol*

  60. The Magic M says:

    The latest Ben Carson poll results makes the denizens of Gerbil Report show their racist face again – they claim the numbers are inflated “because he’s black”.
    Poof go all the “I’m not racist” claims of “I’d vote for Carson” – as I predicted once it looks like another black man could actually have a chance to become President.

  61. 9th Circuit Court of appeals ruled against Arpaio who was trying to disqualify Judge Snow:

    “Petitioners have not demonstrated that this case warrants the intervention of this court by means of the extraordinary remedy of mandamus. See Bauman v. U.S. Dist. Court, 557 F.2d 654-55 (9th Cir. 1977) (citation omitted). The district court’s July 10, 2015 order denying petitioners’ motion for recusal is not clearly erroneous as a matter of law. Id. Accordingly, the petition is denied. All pending motions are denied as moot. DENIED.”

  62. Jim says:

    The Magic M:
    The latest Ben Carson poll results makes the denizens of Gerbil Report show their racist face again – they claim the numbers are inflated “because he’s black”.
    Poof go all the “I’m not racist” claims of “I’d vote for Carson” – as I predicted once it looks like another black man could actually have a chance to become President.

    Linky? 😀

  63. bob says:

    The 9th also denied Montgomery/Klayman’s request to stay the case pending that appeal.

  64. Crustacean says:

    That comment by Colbert gave me a chuckle, and it reminded me of the “homework” assignment that my father-in-law gave me this summer that made me change my opinion of Justice Thomas.

    I think I’ve mentioned before on this blog that my wife’s dad is a federal judge (for the Eastern District of New York). I have infinite respect for this man, who is as honorable and wise as anyone I’ve ever met, and it’s always a big deal for me whenever I get the opportunity to sit down and talk with him. This past June I got another such opportunity when we shared a vacation rental in Cooperstown for a youth baseball tournament.

    Whenever we are together, I always make a mental note of the books he is reading (usually it’s two or three at the same time, and even though it’s often “recreational” reading, the subject matter tends to be pretty serious, and he reads with a pen in one hand). This time I was fascinated to see that one of the books was “The Supreme Court Vs. The Constitution” by Gerald Walpin (the other was “Bloody Crimes: The Chase for Jefferson Davis and the Death Pageant for Lincoln’s Corpse”). I asked him about the Walpin book, and this led to a discussion about last year’s Supreme Court decision on same-sex marriage.

    Turns out he is in agreement with Chief Justice Roberts’ dissenting opinion that, “in our democratic republic,” changing the institution of marriage is a “decision [that] should rest with the people acting through their elected representatives,” and not with “five lawyers who happen to hold commissions authorizing them to resolve legal disputes according to law.”

    Getting into a debate about a Supreme Court decision with a federal judge is probably not the smartest thing for a non-lawyer like me to do, but I figured I had five SC justices on my side, so maybe I had a chance. As I brought up my dissent to the dissent, he said that all of my points had been brought up in the actual decision, and that I should read it. And wouldn’t you know it, he just happened to have a copy on him. So I spent a good chunk of my vacation’s down time reading “Obergefell v. Hodges” (pen in hand, of course).

    Reading the dissenting opinions didn’t change my mind (much), but what surprised me is that I found Justice Thomas’s dissent to be the most effective. While it seemed Justice Scalia was afraid this decision was going to force him to have to marry a dude, Thomas presented the simple argument that “Since well before 1787, liberty has been understood as freedom from government action, not entitlement to government benefits.” He expanded on his view from there, but basically he said that if people were being arrested for marrying a same-sex partner, the Supreme Court should intervene. Otherwise, it’s not their problem.

    As I was making notes in my father-in-law’s copy of this decision, I kept coming back to the “Loving v. Virginia” ruling on interracial marriage; so many arguments against same-sex marriage, I thought, could also be made against interracial marriage, and could therefore be dismissed just as easily. But one thing I learned from the Thomas dissent is that in the “Loving” case, the plaintiffs had been arrested and sentenced to prison. So to Thomas, “Loving” wasn’t about guaranteeing government benefits of marriage, it was about preventing states from denying liberty to their citizens. And Thomas defines “liberty” as it is used in the Due Process Clause: “the power of loco-motion… removing one’s person to whatsoever place one’s own inclination may direct; without imprisonment or restraint, unless by due course of law.”

    I still maintain that, pursuant to the Due Process and Equal Protection Clauses, the majority opinion in “Obergefell” is correct. But I also think Justice Thomas’s dissenting opinion was more persuasive than the others.

    Keith: Interesting interview of Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer by Colbert.
    I missed the monologue but apparently Colbert cracked: “Normally Breyer sits next to Clarence Thomas, so I hope he’s not startled when I actually talk.”

  65. Notorial Dissent says:

    I would agree with your FIL and Thomas, dog help me, to a point, if it weren’t for the 14th, and the fact that the Sct settled Loving the way they did. If the “acting through their elected representatives” were still the only thing in play then Loving would not and could not have happened, and it would still be legal to discriminate against anyone you felt like “acting through their elected representatives” against. From the moment the 14th was passed that ship started to sink. The gist of the 14th, more than anything else is EQUAL RIGHTS FOR ALL, not just EQUAL RIGHTS FOR SOME. And I do disagree with Thomas on liberty as “freedom from government action”, liberty is being able to live your life on the same footing as everyone else, not based on your class or religion or race or some other arbitrary legal footing, which more often means gov’t protecting your rights rather than repressing them.

  66. Pete says:

    Dr. Conspiracy: 9th Circuit Court of appeals ruled against Arpaio who was trying to disqualify Judge Snow:

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nrIPxlFzDi0

  67. Rickey says:

    Dr. Conspiracy:
    9th Circuit Court of appeals ruled against Arpaio who was trying to disqualify Judge Snow:

    “Petitioners have not demonstrated that this case warrants the intervention of this court by means of the extraordinary remedy of mandamus. See Bauman v. U.S. Dist. Court, 557 F.2d 654-55 (9th Cir. 1977) (citation omitted). The district court’s July 10, 2015 order denying petitioners’ motion for recusal is not clearly erroneous as a matter of law. Id. Accordingly, the petition is denied. All pending motions are denied as moot. DENIED.”

    And Stephen Lemons has reported that Arpaio is making another appeal for donations to his legal defense fund.

    http://www.phoenixnewtimes.com/news/arpaio-wants-you-to-pay-his-criminal-attorney-tab-as-he-loses-again-in-melendres-7662460

  68. The Magic M says:

    Jim: Linky?

    http://www.birtherreport.com/2015/09/video-fox-news-host-to-cnn-ask-gop.html

    Comments by “AttilasDaughter” (“The Carson polling is bogus. They try to take Trump down and use the race card.“, 34 likes), “bob68” (“Is there some lingering “white guilt”“, 30 likes).

  69. Andrew Vrba, PmG says:

    Dr. Conspiracy: 9th Circuit Court of appeals ruled against Arpaio who was trying to disqualify Judge Snow

    Ya know, for such a big tough guy, Shurfjoke is awfully afraid of manning up to take his lumps.

  70. This from Falcon at BR:

    “When you mention JadeHelm it demonstrates how dense and uniformed you are – apparently you are too stupid to even follow what’s been happening.

    Starting with the ‘wildfires’ that were intentionally set BY RUSSIANS and witnessed by countless people who reported it to the police and the media – who then did nothing. And moving all the way down to white UN ATTACK helicopters. Yes, CornHole – ATTACK helicopters. Got that. The merciful and caring UN has ATTACK helicopters. When they’re not raping their way across war zones – they are in back yards terrorizing American citizens. And then lastly – ‘Mastering The Human Domain’. No worries for you – you’re old and feeble and certainly not worthy of much attention, until it’s time to round-up the minions, who are always first to go.

    If you had one lick of common sense you would see the parallels to the Nazis – but NOOOOO. Not you. Stay dumb on your 150 dollar a year salary Obama stipend.”

    Read more at http://www.birtherreport.com/2015/09/video-fox-news-host-to-cnn-ask-gop.html#ESz46fCvwevVGIwK.99

    bgansel9: Jade Helm is officially over and Obama didn’t throw a bunch of crazy rightwingers into FEMA camps:

  71. AZCentral article in appeal denial:

    http://www.azcentral.com/story/news/local/phoenix/breaking/2015/09/15/appeals-court-denies-sheriff-joe-arpaios-bid-remove-judge/72337690/

    Andrew Vrba, PmG: Ya know, for such a big tough guy, Shurfjoke is awfully afraid of manning up to take his lumps.

  72. Phoenix New Times
    Arpaio Wants You to Pay His Criminal Attorney Tab, as He Loses Again in Melendres

    http://www.phoenixnewtimes.com/news/arpaio-wants-you-to-pay-his-criminal-attorney-tab-as-he-loses-again-in-melendres-7662460

  73. “In an exchange with former Rep. J.C. Watts (R-Okla.) on Wednesday night’s Hardball prior to the CNN debate, host Chris Matthews blasted the Republican Party writ large for not rebuking Donald Trump several years ago when he publicly questioned whether President Obama was constitutionally eligible for the office”. –

    See more at: http://newsbusters.org/blogs/nb/ken-shepherd/2015/09/16/matthews-channels-rev-wright-gop-chickens-coming-home-roost-birther#sthash.YDVX3UjJ.dpuf

  74. It must be a special kind of moral degeneracy that takes comfort in the perceived disability of others. For the record, I put in an 8 hour shift building walls, roof trusses and a crawl space door at a Habitat site today.

    Dr. Conspiracy: Falcon: you’re old and feeble and certainly not worthy of much attention,

  75. donna says:

    Trump declines to dispute supporter’s birther remarks

    Speaking at campaign rally in New Hampshire, Trump fielded questions from the crowd, and the first person he called on stood and declared:

    “We have a problem in this country, it’s called Muslims. We know our current president is one, you know he’s not even an American. But anyway, we have training camps growing where they want to kill us. That’s my question, when can we get rid of them?”

    Trump responded: “We’re going to be looking at a lot of different things, a lot of people are saying bad things are happening, we’re going to be looking at that and plenty of other things.”

    A second man stood and said the same.

    “I applaud the gentleman who stood and said Obama is a Muslim born abroad and about the military camps, everyone knows that,” he said.

    “Right,” Trump responded, quickly moving to the next questioner.

    http://thehill.com/blogs/ballot-box/gop-primaries/254142-trump-declines-to-dispute-supporters-birther-remarks

  76. Arthur B. says:

    donna: Trump declines to dispute supporter’s birther remarks

    Shortly after the event, Anderson Cooper had some guests on discussing it. One of them, Andy (?) something, was there as a Trump supporter (I don’t think it was said that he represented the campaign). Andy maintained that the questioner was crazy and that Trump was laughing him off.

    The topic then moved to the BC, and Andy was confident. Trump deserved credit for having the LFBC produced, and once it was, he was satisfied.

    Really? That’s not what the Donald has been saying recently. Would Trump endorse Andy’s statement? How would the birthers feel about it?

    Anyone on Twitter who wants to tweet Anderson about this…

  77. Arthur B. says:

    Arthur B.: Andy (?) something

    Andy Dean

  78. RanTalbott says:

    donna: Trump declines to dispute supporter’s birther remarks

    His minion says he didn’t hear them

    Corey Lewandowski, Trump’s campaign manager, later told CNN that the candidate did not hear the question about Obama being a Muslim.

    “All he heard was a question about training camps, which he said we have to look into,” Lewandowski said. “The media want to make this an issue about Obama, but it’s about him waging a war on Christianity.”

    I’m willing to give him the benefit of the doubt, since most people would be taken aback when the guy started by saying “We have a problem in this country. It’s called Muslims.”: it’s rather shocking these days to hear that kind of bigotry expressed in front of a large group of strangers.

    When the next guy brought it up, he was probably recovered enough to try (though, apparently, without success) to just blow it off and move on. You can tell from his interactions with interviewers that he’s being careful to avoid alienating the crazy wing of his supporters.

    The unforced error of Lewandowski not making the correction on his behalf, and then accusing Obama of “waging a war on Christianity” should, at least arguably, be the bigger story. It’s like fumbling to remove the bare foot from your mouth so you can insert the one wearing a golf shoe with metal spikes.

    (Note to Doc: the spamblocker is still screwing up. Doubly so, because it let me post after it told me I was blocked)

  79. donna says:

    Trump Iowa chair, Taina Goertz, on anti-Muslim & birther questions

    http://www.msnbc.com/msnbc-news/watch/trump-iowa-chair-on-anti-muslim-questions-527763011598

  80. donna says:

    Arthur B: Anyone on Twitter who wants to tweet Anderson about this…

    Anderson Cooper Verified account
    ‏@andersoncooper

    I apologized to a guest on my broadcast tonight because I was rude. I hate rudeness and I am disappointed in myself

    WATCH: Anderson Cooper Loses His Cool With Trump Supporter

    http://talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/anderson-cooper-andy-dean-trump

    Christie: I’d Never Let Someone Call Obama A Muslim At My Town Halls

    Trump has to decide how serious he wants his candidacy to be, Christie said.

    “He’s got to decide what he wants to do for himself, but I would just tell you if someone at one of my town hall meetings said something like that I would correct them,” Christie said. “I’d say ‘No, the President’s a Christian and he was born in this country.’ Those two things are self-evident.”

    http://talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/chris-christie-donald-trump-muslim-townhall

    Trump Iowa Co-Chair Says He’ll Reveal What He Found In Hawaii ‘When The Time Is Right’

    http://crooksandliars.com/2015/09/trump-iowa-co-chair-says-hell-reveal-what

  81. dunstvangeet says:

    I don’t believe that he didn’t hear the Muslim part. If you take a look at the video, it goes:

    QUESTIONER: “We have a problem in this country, it’s called Muslims. You know our current president is one. You know he’s not even an American.”

    TRUMP: “We need this question. This is the first question.”

  82. Arthur B. says:

    donna: Arthur B: Anyone on Twitter who wants to tweet Anderson about this…

    Anderson Cooper Verified account
    ‏@andersoncooper

    Thanks. But I am not a Twitter user myself. I thought somebody else might be up to the challenge.

    Here’s what I’m getting at: Andy Dean — the one to whom Cooper apologized — claimed that Trump is no longer a birther, that his doubts were assuaged when the LFBC came out.

    That’s not what Trump has been saying. I wonder if Cooper is interested enough to explore the apparent discrepancy.

    Anyone up for asking him?

  83. justlw says:

    Sekrit Mooslim Does What Sekrit Mooslims Do, Puts Sekrit Mooslim in Power

    How did I miss this the first time around? In response to the NYT article on the latest Trump kerfuffle, someone commented:

    Look, I get it. You folks don’t have any fear of Islam. I do and I would not vote for the type of President who’d put a MUSLIM IN CHARGE OF THE CIA.

    I had no idea. Fortunately, WND was on the case.

    http://www.wnd.com/2013/02/shock-claim-obama-picks-muslim-for-cia-chief/

  84. I would not vote for anyone who would put a birther in charge of the CIA.

    justlw: Look, I get it. You folks don’t have any fear of Islam. I do and I would not vote for the type of President who’d put a MUSLIM IN CHARGE OF THE CIA.

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