Battle of the Bilge

New Feature

Today we’re rolling out a new monthly feature for Battle of the Bilge – Comments of the Month. Each month, we’ll choose from the comments made in the previous month and restate it. The criteria is simple, any comment that generates discussion, hits the proverbial nail on the head or is a good example of industry or ideological clone web troopers that re-iterate the same issue that others have said. April was a pretty slow month for comments (and articles, with my apologies), but this one was definitely not a comment that reflected the general calm on the email front lately. And it is dead on.

Reader Comment of the Month

In response to the artile debunking the myth that the health care reform bill created a ‘Private Army’, a reader using the name Mark RN posted the following:

You are pretty much on track. I work for the Bureau of Prisons as a RN. I work with many USPHS Officers. And let me attest to this, a secret militia they are not… USPHS serves in many different areas. Mostly they are stuck working the government medical jobs nobody else wants. Like in Federal Prisons, Indian Health Services, etc. I think they are also involved in the CDC and some other areas. They are all Dentists, Dental Hygienists, Nurses, Nurse Practioners, Pharmacists, Doctors, Medical Record Specialists, and I think even some Engineers. As far as a militia… they are not even allowed to participate in the firearms training here at the prison (mandatory for every other employee) because under their USPHS oath, they are to never knowingly or willfully bring harm to a human being. (Similar to the nursing oath, I think) I am actually thinking about transitioning to USPHS, but am concerned about being pulled away from my family when deployed for national needs. But on the other hand, I would like the opportunity to be dispatched to areas in need of emergent health care… kind of what I got inot nursing for. Anyways, I guess if the USPHS is Obama’s secret personal militia, then there are a bunch of middle aged overweight liscensed medical people out there just waiting to be called to arms!… as long as we don’t have to do push-ups and there is decent coffee available

Now that’s a great comment. Factual, coming from someone in the know and with a good amount of experience to back him up and very good humored as well, especially the last sentence.

Discussion

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“FEAR is an acronym in the English language for “False Evidence Appearing Real” – Neal Donald Walsch

Background

Google Health care bill and private army and you will find close to a million hits, almost all of which are the same one or two fear mongering stories about how the health care bill establishes President Obama’s ‘private’ army that has been so feared. Of course it is true if it is on so many websites and email chains going around. Except for the fact that it isn’t an army, isn’t private and wasn’t ‘hidden’ in the health care bill. More after the reprint of the main article…

Most Common Iteration

Obama Just Got His Private Army

Were you aware of the fact that the health care bill created a civilian army?

A Ready Reserve Corps for service in time of national emergency.
All commissioned officers shall be citizens of the United States and shall be appointed without regard to the civil-service laws (which means they will not be sworn to uphold the Constitution) and compensated without regard to the Classification Act 2 of 1923, as amended.

Remember when Obama said he wanted a “national security force”? Not the national guard, but a civilian one that has not sworn to uphold the Constitution?

Obama just got his private army… and no one seems to have noticed. It is buried in the Senate revisions to the health care bill.
Subtitle C–Increasing the Supply of the Health Care Workforce
Sec. 5201. Federally supported student loan funds.
Sec. 5202. Nursing student loan program.
Sec. 5203. Health care workforce loan repayment programs.
Sec. 5204. Public health workforce recruitment and retention programs.
Sec. 5205. Allied health workforce recruitment and retention programs.
Sec. 5206. Grants for State and local programs.
Sec. 5207. Funding for National Health Service Corps.
Sec. 5208. Nurse-managed health clinics.
Sec. 5209. Elimination of cap on commissioned corps.
Sec. 5210. Establishing a Ready Reserve Corps.
Subtitle D–Enhancing Health Care Workforce Education and Training
See the Patient Protection Affordable Care Act, page 1312:

SEC. 5210. ESTABLISHING A READY RESERVE CORPS.

Section 203 of the Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 204) is amended to read as follows:
SEC. 203. COMMISSIONED CORPS AND READY RESERVE CORPS.

(a) ESTABLISHMENT:
(1) IN GENERAL.–here shall be in the Service a commissioned Regular Corps and a Ready Reserve Corps for service in time of national emergency.

(2) REQUIREMENT.–All commissioned officers shall be citizens of the United States and shall be appointed without regard to the civil-service laws and compensated without regard to the Classification Act 2 of 1923, as amended.

(3) APPOINTMENT.–Commissioned officers of the Ready Reserve Corps shall be appointed by the President and commissioned officers of the Regular Corps shall be appointed by the President with the advice and consent of the Senate.

(4) ACTIVE DUTY.–Commissioned officers of the Ready Reserve Corps shall at all times be subject to call to active duty by the Surgeon General, including active duty for the purpose of training.

(5) WARRANT OFFICERS.–Warrant officers may be appointed to the Service for the purpose of providing support to the health and delivery systems maintained by the Service and any warrant officer appointed to the Service shall be considered for purposes of this Act and title 37, United States Code, to be a commissioned officer within the Commissioned Corps of the Service.

(b) ASSIMILATING RESERVE CORP OFFICERS INTO THE REGULAR CORPS: Effective on the date of enactment of the Affordable Health Choices Act, all individuals classified as officers in the Reserve Corps under this section (as such section existed on the day before the date of enactment of such Act) and serving on active duty shall be deemed to be commissioned officers of the Regular Corps. [Note here that those personally appointed by BO -- without the advice and consent of the Senate -- automatically become a part of the Regular Corps. Ed.]

(c) PURPOSE AND USE OF READY RESERVE:
(1) PURPOSE. The purpose of the Ready Reserve Corps is to fulfill the need to have additional Commissioned Corps personnel available on short notice (similar to the uniformed service’s reserve program) to assist regular Commissioned Corps personnel to meet both routine public health and emergency response missions.

(2) USES: The Ready Reserve Corps shall–

(A) participate in routine training to meet the general and specific needs of the Commissioned Corps;
(B) be available and ready for involuntary calls to active duty during national emergencies and public health crises, similar to the uniformed service reserve personnel;
(C) be available for backfilling critical positions left vacant during deployment of active duty Commissioned Corps members, as well as for deployment to respond to public health emergencies, both foreign and domestic; and
(D) be available for service assignment in isolated, hardship, and medically underserved communities (as defined in section 399SS) to improve access to health services.

(d) FUNDING.—For the purpose of carrying out the duties and responsibilities of the Commissioned Corps under this section, there are authorized to be appropriated such sums as may be necessary to the Office of the Surgeon General for each of fiscal years 2010 through 2014. Funds appropriated under this subsection shall be used for recruitment and training of Commissioned Corps Officers.

Again, I ask the question: Were you aware of the fact that the health care bill created another army? We can easily imagine what they will be ordered to do, including lethal injections (a.k.a. vaccinations) to “unworthy” people?

Whew, Nazi Germany all over again and it is happening right before our eyes, and right under our noses.

Reality

What this portion of the bill does is create a Reserve component to the United States Public Health Service (USPHS) that will serve in much the same capacity as the Reserve components of the other uniformed services. This is actually something MOAA has been a proponent of for years, as has The Military Coalition. What is the USPHS?

From their website:

What is the Commissioned Corps?

The U.S. Public Health Service Commissioned Corps is an elite team of more than 6,000 full-time, well-trained, highly qualified public health professionals dedicated to delivering the Nation’s public health promotion and disease prevention programs and advancing public health science. Driven by a passion for public service, these men and women serve on the frontlines in the Nation’s fight against disease and poor health conditions.

As one of America’s seven uniformed services, the Commissioned Corps fills essential public health leadership and service roles within the Nation’s Federal Government agencies and programs.

The establishment of a Ready Reserve component is something that has been needed for a long time, especially during times of war. With a large number of doctors, nurses and field medics of all kind deployed overseas for combat support, there is a definite need in the homeland for more medical personnel. The new law raises the cap of officers for the Ready Reserve Corps to 6,600. Their ability to help National Guard forces respond to mass casualty events and natural disasters at home is an essential part of emergency management. Their role is very explicitly laid out in the law, and although the unknown author of this piece can ‘imagine’ what they’ll be ordered to do, it just isn’t true.

What about the language of the bill stating that each member of the officer corps needs to be appointed by the president? Promotions in the uniformed services are almost always due to a recommendation from the DoD, approval by the president and congress. There’s no real difference between the USPHS officer advancement and the US Army. President Obama will not be looking to fill the ranks of the new program with his ‘operatives’, this is just how things work. The exemption clause is due to the very nature of the USPHS. Doctors, nurses and the rest of the medical community have a level of training that is expensive, so higher compensation is in many cases necessary to draw the best and brightest to military service.

The USPHS has been envisioning a broader role for some time, and that vision is captured in the 2008 report Blueprint for a Healthier America.

Conclusions

With such distrust in the American political landscape right now, people are more than willing to jump on board anything that will confirm their beliefs that President Obama is moving us toward a ‘different’ nation, away from democratic ideals. There will always be people that jump to conclusions rather than take the time to understand the true implications of the administration’s actions. In this case, there is nothing that is insidious or troubling to be found in this extension of USPHS. The hyper-partisanship that has been a cornerstone of internet, radio and cable news will not slow down. That’s why the posts on this blog have been few and far between lately.

But this one is just too far off the mark not to comment on. Eternal fear mongering is no replacement for eternal vigilance.

As always, FactCheck.org has an excellent article on this issue.

Discussion

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“A newspaper is a device for making the ignorant more ignorant and the crazy crazier.” – H. L. Mencken

Potential Disaster Averted

It can be assumed that if H. L. Mencken lived to see the modern invention of the internet, it would have undoubtedly taken the place of ‘newspaper’ in the above quote. And it would have been a perfect characterization of John Patrick Bedell, the man who attacked an entrance checkpoint at the Pentagon last Thursday evening. Excellent police vigilance and quick action stopped a possible mass casualty situation from happening, and ensuring that the only death from the incident was the shooter himself.

According to the Associated Press, John Patrick Bedell arrived at a Pentagon checkpoint on March 4th and opened fire on police officers with two handguns. A statement to the AP from J Richard Keevill, the chief of Pentagon police:

“He just reached in his pocket, pulled out a gun and started shooting… He walked up very cool. He had no real emotion on his face.”

While it would be easy to designate Bedell’s actions as an act of terrorism, and by definition, the use of violence to further a political or social message or goal, that appeared to be his intent, the legacy of his internet activity points more in the direction of a seriously deranged person detached from reality. Attempts by some elements of both traditional and alternative media outlets to paint him as a ‘right wing extremist’ just after the attack are not supported by his public (or at least virtual) persona. The original title of the Christian Science Monitor article linked in the previous sentence was ‘John Patrick Bedell: Did Right Wing Extremism Lead to Shooting?’

The cached and saved remnants of his online activity point more towards a left leaning ideology, if any of it can rationally be described as an ideology. Sometimes, crazy is just crazy. But crazy stupid is one thing. Until his act of violence, stupid is not a word that would aptly describe John Bedell, whom evidence indicates held a high IQ. And that is far more frightening.

Paranoia, Drugs and Conspiracies

Clearly, Bedell held strong distrust and anger towards the federal government and the military, and was a member of the ‘truther’ movement that believed the attacks of 9/11 were perpetrated by a criminal cabal within the U.S. He recorded a series of rantings on the subject in 2006 entitled ‘Directions to Freedom’ that can be found here. A snippet of the audio was transcribed by Patterico’s Pontifications and captures the essence of his message:

This criminal organization would use its powers to convert military, intelligence, and law enforcement bureaucracies into instruments for political control, and the domination and subjection of society, while discrediting, destroying, and murdering honest individuals within those services, that work to root out corruption, and faithfully serve their fellow citizens. This organization, like so many murderous governments throughout history, would see the sacrifice of thousands of its citizens in an event such as the September 11 attacks, as a small cost in order to perpetuate its barbaric control. This collection of gangsters would find it in their interest to foment conflict and initiate wars throughout the world, in order to divert attention from their misconduct and criminality. The true nature of such a regime would find its clearest expression in the satanic violence currently ongoing in Iraq.

You can see a full transcript of Bedell’s rant here. Although the questioning of the official explanation of 9/11 has been a continuing source of internet debate and speculation, the movement has been demonstrably non-violent, and very few of its members have ever advocated violence.

He was apparently obsessed with the monetary system of the world. From the same recording, he stated that “When the government can control how private property is used and especially when the government controls the monetary system that is use to exchange private property, the government has the mechanisms and the motivation to control individuals to the smallest detail.”

So what made Bedell cross the line? The answer may have more to do with his personal state of mind than a broader political battle. As reported by MSNBC:

Bedell was diagnosed as bipolar, or manic depressive, and had been in and out of treatment programs for years. His psychiatrist, J. Michael Nelson, said Bedell tried to self-medicate with marijuana, inadvertently making his symptoms more pronounced. “Without the stabilizing medication, the symptoms of his disinhibition, agitation and fearfullness complicated the lack of treatment,” Nelson said.

As more evidence emerged pointing towards a more left leaning philosophy by Bedell, the Christian Science Monitor backed off of its original speculation of his ‘Right Wing Conspiracy and put up an update: UPDATE Monday, March 8: As more information emerges about Mr. Bedell, the less it appears that any coherent ideology was behind his actions, except that he was deeply antigovernment. Much closer to the probable reality than their first iteration of the article, especially given the fact that he was a registered Democrat. But falling in to a right wing/left wing debate over his motivations would not be appropriate for this man or his actions. Sometimes, mental illness trumps politics and that seems to be the case here.

Discussion

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“Like recurring nightmares, conspiracy theories aren’t necessarily gone for good just because they disappear for a while” – David A Graham, Newsweek

Background – Newsweek’s Blunder

If you intend to take on a list of conspiracy theories as a member of one of the largest news outlets in the world, you have to assume that it will draw major attention. Knowing this it would be a good idea to do your research and come up with thorough lines of evidence to support your conclusions. If there is one cardinal rule about discussing conspiracy theories, is that you bring as much information to the table as possible. The true believers on the subject are going to deny your research and conclusions anyway, but at least you’ll have specific points of information to start the discussion.

In a web exclusive article posted on February 12th, Newsweek breaks this rule with gusto, providing one or two sentence rebuttals to conspiracy theories with very little in the way of supporting evidence for their conclusions. Called the ‘Guide to Conspiracy Theories’, the article is a shotgun listing of various active theories that have permeated the web, most of which we have reported on in the past. The result of the article’s lack of evidence, although the conclusions are for the most part dead on, has been a thrashing of the article via its comments section, and believers and non-believers alike have expressed their feelings about the article in a massive way. Instead of putting these issues to rest, Newsweek seems to have successfully contributed to their durability and in some cases will no doubt breathe new life into (thankfully) dying theories.

First let’s take a look at the thirteen theories highlighted by the article and their short conclusions.

Newsweek’s List and Conclusions

1. Barack Obama was not born in the United States.
Kernel of Truth? It’s fully debunked. Forged Kenyan birth certificates have been exposed, and—despite protestations to the contrary—Obama’s birth certificate has been certified by the state of Hawaii, and images have been shown on national television. And that’s leaving aside plenty of circumstantial proof, like birth announcements in both major Hawaiian papers from August 1961.

2. Anthropogenic global warming is a hoax.
Kernel of Truth? Deniers have long taken advantage of scientists’ cautious statements, and “Climategate” breathed new life into the movement, but the science stands: warming is real, and it’s caused by human actions.

3. Goldman Sachs intentionally created the economic crisis.
Kernel of Truth? Goldman undoubtedly did better than any competitor from the financial crisis, and CEO Lloyd Blankfein even admitted—albeit cryptically—that the company had “participated in things that were clearly wrong.” This theory is tougher than others to debunk fully, because there’s no empirical data available either way. Nonetheless, while Goldman may have profited, that alone doesn’t prove malice or conspiracy.

4. Democrats’ health plan will create death panels.
Kernel of Truth?[Sarah] Palin was apparently referring to a provision of draft legislation that would have funded consultation about end-of-life care. There was and is, however, no plan for rationing care as a cost-cutting measure, and fact-checking outlet PolitiFact named the theory the “Lie of the Year” in 2009.

5. Barack Obama is a secret Muslim.
Kernel of Truth? Nope. Obama belonged to a Christian church in Chicago (for which he ironically also caught flack) and has a record of unambiguous support for Israel and hawkish policies on eradicating Al Qaeda’s strongholds in Afghanistan and Pakistan.

6. Sarah Palin is not the mother of her 1-year-old son, Trig.
Kernel of Truth? No. Sullivan has couched the whole thing as just pointing out minor discrepancies and asking for reasons—not directly making accusations. Palin has understandably refused to dignify these questions with responses. No one else has picked up the theory publicly, although privately some liberals regard it as plausible.

7. ACORN is part of a liberal conspiracy to steal elections.
Kernel of Truth? The James O’Keefe videos showed questionable conduct at the very least, but neither they nor anything else proves a vast left-wing conspiracy between Democrats and ACORN to steal elections.

8. FEMA is establishing detention camps.
Kernel of Truth? Too silly to discuss.

9. The Council on American-Islamic Relations is trying to infiltrate Capitol Hill and spread jihad.
Kernel of Truth? CAIR has tried to place interns on Capitol Hill, but as it points out, that’s standard practice for advocacy groups of all types and allegiances. There’s no proof of sinister motives or an effort to encourage international jihad.

10. Obama wants to conscript Americans into a civilian defense corps.
Kernel of Truth? Liberal press watchdog Media Matters says the theory stems from a speech Obama made in which he argued for the importance of the Foreign Service, AmeriCorps, and the Peace Corps. That’s a far cry from an American Gestapo—a claim for which there’s no support.

11. Time magazine wants to restrict the Internet to licensed users.
Kernel of Truth? Time published a story reporting on a Microsoft executive who’d like to see licensing to combat anonymity. Broadcasting such a controversial proposal—regardless of its merits—is quite the opposite of censorship, as Time’s Michael Scherer rightly explained.

12. 9/11 was an inside job.
Kernel of Truth? Not even the staunchest mainstream George W. Bush bashers believe this one. Enough said.

13. The Omnibus One-World Government, Unified Currency, Dollar-Abolishing, Free Trade–Advocating Theory of Everything:
Kernel of Truth? Eh, sounds plausible to us.

For the full background on each conspiracy theory in the article, go to: http://www.newsweek.com/id/233518/

Comments on, Attacks and Denials Incoming

The article itself, by its very nature, is going to get a lot of heated comments and the usual rhetoric of believers on both sides. But the way it was written, in an apparent vacuum where supporting documentation and evidence, assumes there are no dissenting beliefs or outstanding questions for most of the issues. Instead of spelling out the evidence and creating a clear rebuttal of each, Newsweek basically painted a big target on their site for the attack of the legions of believers of these theories. Thus not only emboldening the spread of false information but also given their readers a chance to attack Newsweek as the often cited ‘part of the machine’ and demonizing their report as misinformation fed to them by the nation’s elite.

Let’s take a quick look at a few of the more out there comments:

Hahaha, wow newsweek has now hit a new low in my book. This is clearly a liberal article. Was there even one conservative “conspiracy theory” that this so called author even talked about?
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Newsweek is such an intelligent publication. This one ranks up there with when they said the Internet would never catch on.
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This article isnt worth even wiping my A$$ with!
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Wow! This article truly is a joke…whoever wrote this should punch themselfs in the face because its been proven that “global warming” is natural…its the earth’s way of reaching equalibrium.
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Propaganda from the New World Order… this “article” is laughable. 9/11 was indeed an inside job.
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Fodder for the masses, Newsweek strikes again! WOW! 11 for 13. And that’s only because Goldman-Sachs was just the catalyst for the “crisis”to occur. And who gives a rodents back-side about Palin’s reproductive and family problems? The only people who would believe this drivel are children and fools! The facts prove every one of these to valid.
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I admit to only skimming the comments on this ridiculous Newsweek fluff but I didn’t see ONE that supported the article.
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Newsweek. Your lies perpetuate myths which cause us to focus on the wrong problems while actual problems threaten our very existence. You really stink.
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This article is a complete joke. Complete subjective journalism without any revelation or examination of facts and evidence. I will never read Newsweek again. Hear that advertisers?
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Newsweek is pure propaganda. This pathetic excuse for an article is proof, and I am complimenting you by calling it an article!

Almost all of the comments are like this, with some groups attacking Newsweek about specific issues like 9/11, birthers, global warming and ACORN. It seems that everyone still has very strong feelings about these issues, and Newsweek poured oil on a large stack of wood just waiting to find a spark. Birthers are sick of being called racists and anyone that believes 9/11 was an inside job is an idiot, if you read the comments.

My absolute favorite comment came from an exchange between “grossmutter” and “MNPatriot79″:

Posted By: grossmutter @ 02/19/2010 7:33:42 PM
No one gives a rat’s ass anymore. People are sick of hearing the whole Muslim thing. Find something else to spout off about.

Posted By: MNpatriot79 @ 02/19/2010 8:29:01 PM
Obviously, a LOT of people care, soooo… you’re dumb…

Commenting on the Internet

As a very smart man once told me, to paraphrase ‘the great part about the internet is that it gives people a release that they would normally internalize and let it burn until they took real world action. Better to have them angry sitting behind a computer than angry on a rooftop with a weapon’. Very true, and this article and the hundreds of comments it has produced illustrates that. I’m not going to go over each theory and debunk or support them, I’ve touched on many here before. I just want to point out how much distrust there is in the government and the media to illicit this sort of response. I’ve held back most of the more virulent attacks in the comments of the article, but take a look and think about what this tells us about our country.

As for Newsweek, hopefully a lesson learned. While you can’t reason people out of anything that they didn’t reason themselves into, you can’t just dismiss what people believe in without a good amount of information to back it up. Something I’ve learned the hard way. Anyway, thank you Newsweek for giving me material for the 100th article of Battle of the Bilge.

Discussion

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_

BotB Verdict

Summary

Although the words attributed to President Obama in the chain email below are completely false and have already been debunked here, there has been a new iteration with additional packaging that has gained some traction. While the commentary is new, the quotes are still just a fabrication, originally written in a satirical column.

The Current Iteration

THIS HAS GOT TO BE THE MOST OUTRAGEOUS STATEMENT EVER MADE BY A PUBLIC OFFICIAL LET ALONE BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES. AND THIS GUY IS OUR “COMMANDER IN CHIEF”. HE IS A DISGRACE.

UNBELIEVABLE PRESIDENT??? HERE IS HIS RESPONSE WHEN HE BACKED OFF FROM HIS DECISION TO REQUIRE THE MILITARY PAY FOR THEIR WAR INJURIES.

WHAT AN EMPTY HEADED PERSON HE MUST BE….

Bad press, including major mockery of the plan by comedian Jon Stewart, led to President Obama abandoning his proposal to require veterans carry private health insurance to cover the estimated $540 million annual cost to the federal government of treatment for injuries to military personnel received during their tours on active duty. The President admitted that he was puzzled by the magnitude of the opposition to his proposal.



“Look, it’s an all volunteer force,” Obama complained. “Nobody made these guys go to war. They had to have known and accepted the risks. Now they whine about bearing the costs of their choice? It doesn’t compute..” “I thought these were people who were proud to sacrifice for their country, “Obama continued “I wasn’t asking for blood, just money. With the country facing the worst financial crisis in its history, I’d have thought that the patriotic thing to do would be to try to help reduce the nation’s deficit. I guess I underestimated the selfishness of some of my fellow Americans.”

Please pass this on to every one including every vet and their families whom you know. How in the world did a person with this mindset become our leader? I didn’t vote for him!!!

REMEMBER THIS STATEMENT… “Nobody made these guys go to war. They had to have known and accepted the risks. Now they whine about bearing the costs of their choice?”



If he thinks he will ever get another vote from an Active Duty,Reserve, National Guard service member or veteran of a military service he ought to think it over.. If you or a family member is or has served
their country please pass this to them.

Please pass this to everyone. I’m guessing that other than the 20-25 percent hardcore liberals in the US will agree that this is just another example why this is the worst president in American history. remind everyone over and over how this man thinks, while he bows to the Saudi Arabian king.

Origins

As previously reported, the quotes attributed to President Obama are directly from a 28 March blog post from John Semmons, whose column Semi-News — A Satirical Look at Recent News appears in the Arizona Conservative, a web community of bloggers. The quotes in question were made up, of course, and the writing is nothing but satire. Here is the direct link

Alterations from Original Email

Besides the fake quotes, the only thing piece that remains from the original email is the paragraph that starts with ‘Bad press, including major…’. Everything else, from the ‘Outrageous statement’ to calling the president ‘an empty headed person’, to the call for action of sending the email to everyone you know is new. Also new are the two pictures, obviously intended to accentuate the snobbish persona that he has been saddled with since he was a nominee for president.

One iteration also added the following to the article as an intro:

Most people will say this article is BS, so do me a favor and let your fingers do the walking over the key-board and research this, don’t be surprised at what you find.

Please do. In addition to our article, and the link to the obviously satirical piece, here are some additional resources that will help you find the truth of the matter:

Snopes Page
TruthorFiction Page
Fact Check Page
Media Matters Page

If you search Google using only the quotes only, you’ll find the above pages plus a ton of message board and blog postings that repeat the lies, most without any dissent or corrections. Unfortunate, but that’s the way the internet works…

No matter what your personal views of President Obama are, he is no doubt a clever politician. And the golden rule of politics is never insult the troops. Common sense should come in to play here.

Discussion

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