Birthers Return, Compare Obama To An Ape
Never fear conspiracy theorists of the world! The Birthers are alive and well and advertising in the pages of the Washington Times. And what an advertisement it is. It’s unclear what is more offensive here: the accusation that President Obama is not an American citizen, or the ape imagery. The former, of course, is utterly ridiculous. The latter is not. Also, now Obama is British.
Ape imagery has well-documented racist undertones, making it fairly difficult to miss the subtle message here. Earlier this year the New York Post got in some very hot water for publishing a cartoon depicting policemen shooting a monkey that many interpreted to represent President Obama. To pair that sort of imagery with birther claims is a double insult, that at the same time may ironically get right to the heart of the matter: Why are some people so convinced the president wasn’t born here? Could it possibly have anything to do with the color of his skin.
The claims in the actual, full-page advertisement — the WT has run birther ads before, by the way — are as ridiculous as you might expect. Now Obama is British. According to the ad, the British Nationality Act of 1948 applied to Obama’s Kenyan-born father therefore making Obama a British subject. What it neglects to mention is this:
The Center for American Progress’ Ian Millhiser points out that if this rule were actually applied to the presidency, every foreign nation would have the power to remove the President of the United States simply by granting the president citizenship.
So at least he’s in good company, I suppose. Advertisement below:
47 comments
straitshooter says: Hi Glynnis, cry a little more you big baby.
Google the words “Hear no evil”, click on images and you will get a wide variation of the above monkeys. It’s the classic image everyone associates with “see no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil”
Yes, let’s get it out of the way, I think Obama is an evil British monkey.
Can we all grow up now, please? He was born in America, but there will always be idiots who think otherwise, just as there will always be idiots who belive Bush and Cheney dynamited the levies in New Orleans.
Mediaite cannot criticize Lou Dobbs for letting birthers appear his show and then avoid the same blame when you run this story as the lead on your home page.
Admit that you love the birthers because you think they drive page-views, and you secretly want them to stick around and will give them the spotlight whenever you can.
shootfromthehip says: I’ve never heard anyone from the left say that Bush “dynamited the levies in New Orleans.” Never.
TfT says: President’s have been depicted as monkey’s forever. I never heard anyone scream or yell at all the depictions of Bush as a monkey, and there were many.
I recall watching MSNBC and I heard, with my very own ears, Erin Burnett comment on a picture of President Bush with two individuals and she stated on air: “The monkey in the middle”. Although Joe Scarborough called her on that comment — it was a wrist slap and it was over.
Over reaction on your part, imho.
ImNotBlue says: shootfromthehip says:
December 1, 2009 at 12:10 pm
And there you go…
______
Using a monkey when referring (even tangentially) to someone of African origin, will always cause some folks to get their underwear in a bunch. The monkeys in this picture are clearly labeled “Congress,” “Courts,” “Media,” so I’m not sure how you infer that it’s a shot at the President.
Additionally, as has been said before, the “Hear no evil…” depiction is classic (and to be perfectly honest, quite cliché at this point)… certainly nothing new.
But I guess if you want to get all upset, because it’s easier to talk about things like this than say… oh, I don’t know… how the media outlets are talking about Climategate (or lack there of), that’s you’re call. More foolishness on Mediaite… we shouldn’t be surprised.
straitshooter says: @ shootfromthehip
Regarding the Hurricane Katrina theories,
Not only did MSNBC do a whole story on this, but in their report, they have crackpots who testified to this nonsense before congress.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/10370145
In the words of Charlie Brown: “AAUGH!” The disingenuousness never, ever, ever, ever, ever stops!
As a black man, I want all of you (especially YOU, Glynnis MacNicol) to hear me loudly and clearly: THIS IS NOT RACIST.
Let me repeat that: THIS … IS … NOT … RACIST!
We’ve been here before, with the false accusations by race hustler Al Sharpton and others that a February 2009 New York Post cartoon suggesting the stimulus bill was written by that face-chomping chimpanzee was meant to send the not-so-subtle message that Obama needed assassination.
When NYP polititoonist Sean Delonas angrily denied that the chimp represented anything other than the composite author of the wasteful, inept, and unreadable stimulus bill (to which the President contributed NOTHING), African-American CNN political analyst Roland Martin said the following:
There was no chimpanzee with a sign underneath it that said Congress or said Pelosi or said House Democrats and so to sit here and to say that you can’t equate the two, no, we understand that there’s a history and a legacy [of referring to blacks as monkeys].
So, what do we have in this ad, Glynnis? We have three chimpanzees that are CLEARLY MARKED “CONGRESS,” “COURTS,” and “MEDIA”! Neither are institutions known for being predominantly black.
Do any of the chimps say “OBAMA,” Glynnis? No! But you still made the quantum leap of logic despite the clear attempt of the ad to avoid any confusion!
Once again, so-called “dog whistle racism” is pointed out loud and clear by the only people who seem to hear it — LIBERALS!
Puter Boi says: “The lady doth protest too much, methinks.”
Well, Glynnis…now that the whole Palin thing is dying down, are we now to expect more birther monkey nonsense? If the answer is yes, I’ll make myself scarce for a few days….
You are proving to be a silly writer.
RazorsEdge says: Perhaps it’s just me Glynnis,
But I think the ad is WORSE than you’re interpreting. I believe the ad is comparing you (media), congress and judicial system to an Ape. I don’t see the behavior comparison towards President Obama but the multiple other intstitutions they mention.
Aside from that, it’s just a fringe group with money that paid revenue to another media organization.
Anyone using monkey/ape imagery in any criticism of Obama should tread very carefully indeed — and it’d be much easier for them if they just wanted to avoid it altogether, unless they’re trying to gin up controversy and coverage and let the racists know they’re on their side.
But this ad doesn’t strike me as racist. The three see/hear/speak-no-evil monkeys is a trope that’s been around for a long time, and I’m not aware of any racial undertones attached to it. The ad is mind-bogglingly, hopelessly stupid, but I don’t think it’s a racial statement.
Nachi says: These inferior vermin should be rounded up, placed behind barbed wire – and exterminated. A proper ending to them. A “final solution.” For the good of the Nation and all mankind.
Ted says: I’m not sure what is worse; being a racist or a dumb ass racist.
straitshooter says: By definition, one must be a dumbass to be a racist, there’s actually no difference.
This is not racist. The monkeys are a traditional symbol of see no evil, etc.
What is racism is not criticizing or speaking up for fear of being labeled a racist. Equal protection for all also means equal criticism for all.
@Nachi; “Final Solution?” What? For speaking their minds?
Ted says: The comment above is the perfect example of a dumb ass racists. He/she just doesn’t know any better and simply does not understand what racism is. Your garden variety racists makes racists statements, knows they are racists, and doesn’t care. Both unsavory and repugnant.
straitshooter says: Ted, slow down, take a deep breath. If you judge people by their skin color, that makes you a dumbass. Ergo, all racists are dumbasses. You also qualify as a dumbass if you immediately label anyone who disagrees with you as a racist. Congratulations Ted, welcome to the dumbass club.
roxsteady says: I guess it’s easier for Republicans and Conservatives to claim Obama isn’t a citizen. This way, they don’t have to face up to the historical ass kicking they took in last year’s elections. See, birthers aren’t saying Obama didn’t win, they’re saying he’s not a citizen which is BS. My favortie part of this monkey argument is that when folks say that Bush was also equated with being a “Monkey In The Middle” they forgot one important caveat. Blacks didn’t have an ugly history of enslaving whites, calling them monkeys or saying they’re not human. It doesn’t wash because the intention behind calling Bush a Monkey vs Obama are as different as black and white.
straitshooter says: @roxsteady
You’re right, blacks don’t have an ugly history of enslaving whites. Blacks have an ugly history of selling other blacks into slavery. Perhaps you should brush up on your history and see who was initially responsible for placing slaves on those ships leaving Africa for America.
Oh, also, that was like 10,000 years ago. My grandpa didn’t own slaves. My dad didn’t own slaves. I just went on e-bay, but it turns out I can’t buy a slave either.
Why is it so hard for you to look at a calendar and leave the past in the past?
@Ted: I know exactly what racism is. I have seen it, heard it and felt it. That said, none of this is racist. Poor taste, yes. But poor taste is not racist or any other kind of -ist.
As an aside, I disagree with the entire “Birther” concept, but I vehemently defend their right to make their case. The First Amendment exists to protect unpopular speech. Popular speech needs no such protections.
I am not saying that there is no racism. I am saying that this ad is not racist, nor is criticizing the president. This constant insistence that criticizing Obama is racist or criticizing Palin is sexist is both sad and counter productive. It tends to minimize actual racism and sexism.
@roxsteady: As a No party Affiliation, I can say the following with total confidence. The Democrats spent at least 4 years trying to discredit Bush’s win in 2000. Not with facts or actual recounts (all of which had Bush winning) but with ginned up nonsense about stolen elections. Just like the ginned up nonsense about Obama’s citizenship. Why? Because the Dems could not believe they lost in 2000.
straitshooter says: Keeva,
Great point on that last matter. The fringe element of the left hooked on conspiracies in Florida is exactly the same as the fringe on the right who cling to Obama’s constitutional eligibility.
Ted says: Straitshooter – Your comment, re: “blacks have an ugly history of selling other blacks…” You are obviously one of those racists dumb asses that is so oblivious that you don’t realize what an extraordinary racist dumb ass you really are. Congrats, you belong to an exclusive club.
ImNotBlue says: Ted says:
December 1, 2009 at 2:18 pm
So tell us why it’s racist. Come on, enlighten us.
Nah… you’ll just keep name calling. It’s all you can do, when you’re not smart enough to say something meaningful.
roxsteady says:
December 1, 2009 at 2:27 pm
I guess it’s easier for Republicans and Conservatives to claim Obama isn’t a citizen. This way, they don’t have to face up to the historical ass kicking they took in last year’s elections.
Two points…
(1) Birther’s are conspiracy loons… and the vast majority of Republicans and Conservatives agree on that… no different than the Truthers, or the “stolen election” loons from ‘00 and ‘04.
(2) Exactly who isn’t facing up to the election? I’ve heard the phrase “Elections have consequences” so many times… FROM SEAN HANNITY… that it’s lost all meaning! I think you’re trying to pat yourself on the back for the ‘08 election… but if that’s all you’ve got to hang your hat on, that’s a pretty low threshold.
straitshooter says: Ted, am I racist because we disagree? Help me understand, because I am so oblivious.
BushCo exploding the levees? Yep , that assertion was made big time by Louis Farrakhan.
Ted says: ImNotBlue – Apparently neither are you.
Straitshooter – You want me to help you understand why you are oblivious? You’re kidding right?
schmoovemoves says: How do you get “compare Obama to ape” from pictures of monkeys labeled “congress” “courts” “media.”
Now if you would have said “compare congress, courts and media to apes” you’d have a point.
Regardless, I get the feeling the blogosphere is holding up birthers and Sarah Palin as the voice of anyone who didn’t vote for Obama in order to avoid addressing any real issues.
straitshooter says: I forget that sarcasm is lost on the close-minded. Ted, you are every bit as racist as the people you think are racist. The irony of you calling someone else oblivious is hysterical.
TfT says: Tigers, Racists and Bravo oh my! You forgot to report Palin’s book is now platinum
Meanwhile, Climategate is absent from the board yet again while we learn:
UK Scientist to step down while being investigated; UPENN scientest is also be investigated.
Yesterday’s climategate thread had nearly 70 posts (is that a record for this board?), and now you have gone silent on the topic again, despite the breaking news on the topic.
HMMMMMM. Is the main board replacing what used to be the link to the gossip stuff you used to post here? Just askin.
TfT: The globaloney scientist isn’t from UPenn (the University of Pennsylvania), he’s from Penn State (the Pennsylvania State University).
Big diff. The football’s not nearly as good at Penn.
Ted wrote:
Straitshooter – You want me to help you understand why you are oblivious? You’re kidding right?
IOW: “Ted, I can’t explain myself. But I don’t have to. I made the accusation you’re a racist — I don’t have to explain WHY you are. You have to explain why you’re not. And every time you say you’re not one, I’ll just repeat, ‘Yes you are.’ And people will take my side because they are too scared of being tagged with the label if they come to your defense.”
TfT says: LNSmithee: Right you are, thanks.
m says: >Blacks have an ugly history of selling other blacks into slavery. Perhaps you should brush up on your history and see who was initially responsible for placing slaves on those ships leaving Africa for America.
I can’t believe this. You’re saying its black people’s own fault for being slaves? I’m sorry to say, but you’re a racist.
straitshooter says: @M
Earlier in this debate, someone posted the following: “Blacks didn’t have an ugly history of enslaving whites, calling them monkeys or saying they’re not human.”
I was merely pointing out that both black people (in Africa) and white people (European settlers in America) contributed to the slave trade, which is a matter of historical record. If pointing out history makes me racist, then so be it. I’m not afraid of what a total stranger thinks of me.’
Try again, M. You people on the left have played the race card so much, it’s lost all its power.
m replied to straitshooter:
I can’t believe this. You’re saying its black people’s own fault for being slaves? I’m sorry to say, but you’re a racist.
Now, m, do you see what you did? You just went straight to the charge of racism, instead of accepting straitshooter’s challenge: Who WAS initially responsible for placing slaves on the ships leaving Africa for America?
ImNotBlue says: Ted says:
December 1, 2009 at 3:40 pm
And you continue to run away and dodge the obvious questions. Poor scared little boy.
m says:
December 1, 2009 at 5:21 pm
Kinda reminds me of when “Bill Adkins” said:
Bill Adkins says:
November 24, 2009 at 7:22 am
As a Jew you should remember that in Warsaw during WW II Jews acting as policemen for their Nazi masters helped to herd Jews to the camps (btw, this is another historical reference- you can look it up). It seems you’ve applied for the police academy early.
Of course, he actually suggested it would be something like MY fault for such actions. But where were you on that one? Not calling ol’ Bill an anti-Semite… that’s for sure. But I guess it’s a double standard again.
Ted says: Hey straitshooter – did i tell you what an oblivious dumb ass you are?
LNSMith – Are you related to straitshooter? It seems you are both a couple of dumb ass racists. Congrats!
ImNotBlue – You’re just a blithering idiot. Harmless, but an idiot.
ImNotBlue says: Ted says:
December 1, 2009 at 10:25 pm
See Ted run. Run Ted, run. Run away from answers you don’t know. Run away from backing up your statements. Run away from making an argument without name calling.
Run Ted, run.
(PS- You said:
LNSMith – Are you related to straitshooter? It seems you are both a couple of dumb ass racists. Congrats!
But ignored when LNSmithee said:
LNSmithee says:
December 1, 2009 at 12:50 pm
In the words of Charlie Brown: “AAUGH!” The disingenuousness never, ever, ever, ever, ever stops!
As a black man, I want all of you (especially YOU, Glynnis MacNicol) to hear me loudly and clearly: THIS IS NOT RACIST.I guess that makes you a racist… you now, calling a black man names like that. Why are you such a racist?)
Ted says: ImNotBlue – What makes you think I’m not black? Actually, what makes you think?
Pablo says: Doesn’t matter, Ted. Call a black guy names, you’re a racist. Your rules, sparky.
ImNotBlue says: Ted says:
December 2, 2009 at 6:47 am
When did I say anything about YOUR race?
I think Pablo summed it up well…
Ms. MacNicol, I see that this thread is rising as one of the most read on Mediaite.
Will you correct the headline so that it doesn’t transmit the false allegation that the advertisement “compare[s] Obama to an ape”? Or do you just figure that truth doesn’t matter as long as you’re creating a buzz?
Isn’t that what “birthers” are accused of?
JazzDrummer7 says: Hey GOP members,
You allowed this kind of crap to go unanswered for too long. All we need is one of you to have the spine to publicly admonish the birthers for this crap. I’m willing to bet there isn’t one in the bunch.
Captain Steve says: Nothing racist about that ad, but saying the ad is racist IS RACIST. Obama can and should put an end to the questions. Why not? Nobody hides something unless they have something to hide.
Obama is a fraud. We all know it; just some won’t admit it.
OBAMA, STOP HIDING. SHOW US YOUR LONG FORM BIRTH CERTIFICATE AND OTHER RECORDS!
Jazz Drummer wrote:
Hey GOP members,
You allowed this kind of crap to go unanswered for too long. All we need is one of you to have the spine to publicly admonish the birthers for this crap. I’m willing to bet there isn’t one in the bunch.
Among prominent conservative commentators who reject “birthers” and vehemently refuse to endorse the cause:
Glenn Beck, author of #1 bestsellers Arguing With Idiots & An Inconvenient Book
Michelle Malkin, blogger, author of #1 bestseller Culture of Corruption
Ed Morrissey, HotAir.com blogger
Mark Levin, author of #1 bestseller Liberty and Tyranny
Laura Ingraham, author of #1 bestseller Power to The People
Patrick Frey, Los Angeles County Deputy D.A. and blogger, Patterico.com
Rick Moran, blogger, Rightwing Nuthouse
Kathryn Jean Lopez, National Review
That’s just off the top of my head.
Lucky for you I’m not a betting man. You wouldn’t have anything left in your wallet.
tom swift says: This claim – that a standard, rather trite image is suddenly racist if a black man (oh, all right, a half-black man) is involved – is itself racism of the most blatant kind. Knock it off.
I also note that a great many people in the world are not natural-born American citizens, hard though that may be to believe. The notion that B. Obama might be one of them is hardly ridiculous. Insisting that it is makes one sound like one of those people who keep telling us that in AGW, the “science is settled.” We know how well that’s working out for them. Why the huge overreaction unless someone’s afraid that there might be something to it? The legal paperwork might settle the issue. Could be worth a try, don’ t you think? Don’t insist that “the paperwork is settled” – that’s just code for “somebody’s lying …”
Captain Steve wrote:
Nothing racist about that ad, but saying the ad is racist IS RACIST.
I don’t know if I would say it’s automatically racist, but I gotta go back to the NY Post chimp controversy and ask: Why did so many white people look at a cartoon depicting a chimpanzee with two gunshot wounds to the chest lying on the sidewalk in a pool of blood and immediately think, “That’s Obama being assassinated”?
Again, another case of liberals being the ones to hear “dog whistle racism” when conservatives don’t.
Obama can and should put an end to the questions. Why not? Nobody hides something unless they have something to hide.
I believe he was probably born in Honolulu. However, there HAS to be a reason why he won’t authorize the release of the vault copy of the original long-form 1961birth certificate (and not the 2007 computer-generated printout with only partial information that his campaign released on his website).
The most likely realities are, IMHO:
1. What is purported to be the official 2007 printout from the state of Hawaii is a forgery (explaining his lawyers’ dedication to preventing inspection of it in court), or…
2. The 2007 printout IS authentic, but the data has been altered so that it differs from the 1961 copy of the original in a way that punches at least one huge hole in his well-worn, constantly-repeated life story.
Bottom line is this: Because of the revelation of the birth certs of his grade-school classmates born in the same hospital within hours of him, we know what Obama’s 1961 birth certificate looks like if it says what he says it does.
But he STILL won’t let us see it.
That doesn’t necessarily mean he’s lying. He could be playing possum with a purpose, like Saddam Hussein. Hussein didn’t have weapons of mass destruction in any of the places he prohibited UN inspectors from searching, but he pretended he was hiding something to prevent IRAN from knowing he had none.
Maybe it’s a “Hussein” thing, and we just don’t understand.
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