yeah, well George Washington wasn’t born in the U.S. either. So there!

I’m sorry, but we should not be spending time on this distraction on the Hill, while Health Care reform is being turned into an insurance industry give-away.

Yo da man, Mike! Keep the heat on these peckerheads till their heads explode!

I had the grand displeasure of having Cathy McMorris as my representative until I moved back to Portland, OR.

I got into it with her, personally, over FISA reform. She’s not as crazy as Michele Bachmann, but she’s twice as stupid.

beth m, beg to differ. Important issues are being decided by flaming lunatics. The word’s got to get out, and Mike’s doing a brilliant job doing it.

We’re all behind you, Mike!

Generally I agree with you. However, because this stupid story has traction in the mainstream media, it’s important to discredit the people who are trying to discredit Obama and therefore his policies.

I think Mike is trying to be efficient in snagging the republicans he encounters in between garnering pledges from dems on public option. That’s my understanding.

Isn’t it interesting that this is the footage that finds its way onto MSM Land on the teevee?

I do agree with you totally about it being a distraction. Perhaps Mike can add a line to his pitch about that very fact. If he isn’t already.

Heads exploding. Is that covered by their insurance?

She’s not as crazy as Michele Bachmann, but she’s twice as stupid.

that’s quite an accomplishment. box of hammers vs. fence post, anyone?

It’s a good story as is C Street if it leads to resignations., investigations or removal from office.

It IS exposing this loonies, and it needs as much light as possible.

But it shouldn’t be a distraction from real work… except that congress doesn’t do any real work.

Ah, some more “misguided souls” for National Review.

I’d like to see Mike ask some of the Blue Dogs this question. Might smoke out some real racists among that bunch.

except that congress doesn’t do any real work.

This would be why DC (and its compliant lap dog media) is all a flutter about a POTUS that actually expects them to do something other than raise money and eat at fancy restaurants.

“Slow down!” they all cry, as if the four days a week most of them work is akin to working in a coal mine.

I’ll disagree with Mike about Michael Moore being a loony.

Particularly in the light of Bill Moyers interview with Wendell Potter (former health insurance executive who is out whistleblowing now)where Potter noted about SICKO that “Michael Moore got it exactly right.”

I don’t think loonies get things “exactly right.”

Hear, hear!

There is more wrong with our system than right. That’s sad.

We DO need more Mike Starks getting at these creeps and exposing them for what they are.

We have seen so many moral/ethical scandals which should see the creeps high tailing out of town with their tail between their legs – but they keep on keeping on. That’s a disgrace in itself.

We live in an no accountability society run by incompetent people.

DEUX! It’s part deux.

Being cool by using foreign words totally fails when you misspell them…

Yep. Let’s remember that the same type of Republican that is spreading the lie of Kenyan birth is also spreading the lie that healthcare reform is a secret plot to kill old people. Flaming, white-hot, burning stupid.

Birthers, Part Duex

minor typo, if French intended: it’s “deux”

(although if you combine cruel and duex you get this.) jsut sayin’

I like your description. I have the distinct pleasure of being “represented” by Ken “Dumber Than a Bag of Hammers” Calvert. I can’t decide whether he is stupider than he is corrupt, or if it’s the other way around. Be that as it may, I am imploring Mr. Stark to train the camera on Calvert if and when he does a Part III.

O/T: I wonder if Boner (excuse me, Boehner) has seen this:

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/200…..HM7kjgtY54

Hey Boner: Lucky that you’ve got good medical coverage, right?

Exactly. Showing how tightly the GOP is wedded to the birthers and other loony tunes forces a discussion of “why would anyone take these people seriously?”

It is not possible to be twice as stupid as Bachman.

We’d have to string together a few super computers to solve that conundrum. It would probably cause them to explode.

The fact that so many of these really dumb people get elected makes me wonder about the intelligence of Americans. What are the Congress people saying when they are running for election that makes voters feel
comfortable with them? I have come to the conclusion that all they have to be likable – guess that does the
job.

If you haven’t seen this book, it’s worth a look. Very fun read.

http://www.amazon.com/Idiot-Am…..038;sr=8-1

Pierce just about made Shuster’s head explode last week. Shuster acted like Bill O’Reilly Jr.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_9txF1Z2v2A

@#8

On the subject of Michelle Bachmann, CREW filed TWO complaints against her church a while back for praising Bachmann from the pulpit.

There is even youtube of Bachmann speaking at this church.

I have not been able to determine if this particular congregation is affiliated with the “Family” of C street fame, but it would be more likely than not.

CREW FILES IRS COMPLAINT AGAINST LIVING WORD CHRISTIAN CENTER
Contact:
Naomi Seligman Steiner – 202.408.5565 / press@citizensforethics.org

Related Documents
04/03/07: CREW Letter to MN Dept. of Revenue
// 1.1 mb
03/27/07: MN Dept. of Revenue Letter to CREW
// 1.5 mb
2/14/07: Letter to Swanson
// 639.9 kb
02/09/07: Lindquist & Vennum letter
// 93.7 kb

LWCC MAY HAVE BEEN PAYING FOR PASTOR’S STUNT PLANE // 9 Feb 2007
CREW FILES SECOND COMPLAINT AGAINST LIVING WORD CHRISTIAN CENTER // 8 Feb 2007
Mac Hammond’s Living Word church faces off with the IRS // 22 Oct 2008
17 Oct 2006 // Washington, DC — Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) today filed an Internal Revenue Service (IRS) complaint against the Living Word Christian Center in Brooklyn Park, MN for violating IRS law by openly endorsing state Senator Michele Bachmann’s candidacy for the U.S. House of Representatives.

Churches, like Living Word Christian Center, are absolutely prohibited from intervening in elections for any public office. This prohibition is a condition of the very favorable tax benefits public charities receive under section 501(c)(3) of the tax code.

On October 14, 2006 Ms. Bachmann delivered a campaign stump speech from the Living Word Christian Center’s pulpit and the church’s pastor, Mac Hammond, openly endorsed her candidacy. Pastor Hammond’s comments and Ms. Bachmann’s speech were made during the Living Word Christian Center’s weekend services, presented before the entire congregation and broadcast over the Internet. By using church resources to promote the candidacy of Ms. Bachmann, the church jeopardized its tax status.

Excerpts from Ms. Bachmann’s speech and the pastor’s endorsement can be found in CREW’s complaint at http://www.citizensforethics.org. Videos of the speeches are available at YouTube.

Hold on a second.
What’s with pissing on Michael Moore & Cindy Sheehan? These people are equivalent to howling Birthers and Teabag race-baiters? WTF?

I don’t know from Sheehan (which already suggests a failure to meet the standard of Teabag whackiness), but Michael Moore?

“Roger & Me “Bowling for Columbine,” “Fahrenheit 911″…”Sicko”..I love those movies!

In ‘04 the buzz his film generated was very inspiring and hopeful during a very scary moment for progressives. And “Sicko” was an important attempt to prime the public for what a raw deal ‘INSURED‘ people get in this shitty-ass healthcare system. It was referred to in the Wendell Potter/Bill Moyers interview as a target of corporate kneecapping, with Potter the former health insurance shill admitting it got the story right!

I also recall his putting some dings in the reputation of that pompous ass Sanjay Gupta, when Gupta bungled a hit piece on Sicko. So…I’m missing the premise for why it’s necessary or desirable to throw Moore under the bus here? Someone want to help me out?

I’ve read some unflattering gossip about his time in the ’80s with Mother Jones but…so what? Apparently he was a bully who tried to toughen up the editorial line. Much later than Moore’s brief tenure, I subscribed and then promptly failed to renew a subscription to MJ, because I got weary of all the boho lifestyle puffery you had to wade through to get to the good investigative stuff. (To be fair, that was itself years ago). I also recall not agreeing with his full-throated support for Wesley Clark’s candidacy, but even there–if we’re talking cynical branding, turns out Kerry’s war bona fides were a lot more vulnerable than his biography-booster’s had figured. Could be Moore had a point in going for a major general in ‘04.

Above all, Stark’s schtick here rather obviously owes more than a little to Moore himself!

What’s with being such an ingrate, Stark?

CREW FILES IRS COMPLAINT AGAINST LIVING WORD CHRISTIAN CENTER

YES!!!

I’m surprised McClintock sounded so sane. Wonder about Darrell Issa. I’ll have to write and ask whether he’s a birther…

I personally witnessed Cathy McMorris proclaim at a conference full of healthcare professionals and administrators that she understood the system, because… wait for it… she once had a baby in a hospital. She said it with a straight face, and she said it more than once. She was the highest ranking public official there, and literally everybody was flabbergasted at the banality of it.

Mike,

I love what you’re doing holding congressmen accountable but I have some disagreement with you over your characterization of Michael Moore and Cindy Sheehan as extremists who have been marginalized by Democrats.

Please see if you can find some real extremists who have been marginalized by Democrats to give you the leverage you are seeking with these GOP congressmen.

Thanks.

Neil

Beth I would agree with you if this were not the symptom of a much greater problem. This movement was started by two well known racists, Jerome Corsi and George Norry. In January and February of 2009 they were asking their followers to push for impeachment of Obama. This is a NeoConfederacy movement, that wishes have the states forever separate from the Union. The ultimate goal is to have black states and white states.

Coming in a bit late, so this must have been pointed out – but if not, here goes: McCain was born in Panama – http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_McCain

That should end the GOP latent racism hypocrisy – shame on them, and shame on their supporters who keep regurgitating lies and innuendo about the President of the United States of America, Barack Obama!

Yeah, and where are Palin’s health records she promised in an interview last year, but then declined to show?

Brilliant, Mike.

You just called Michael Moore and Cindy Sheehan crazy, loony extremists. With friends like you…

I can hear the right wingers trying to interview Mike and Cindy… “even the loonies at Firedog Lake called you an extremist loony…”

Cindy lost her son in Iraq in case you need reminding.

And Micheal Moore has done more to illuminate progressive issues than anyone in recent memory. Remember Sicko? Fahrenheit 9/11? Bowling for Columbine? Roger and Me?

I think you owe these two activists a clear and unequivocal apology.

I live in Missouri and i am ashamed that this walking, talking, asscrack is the best we could find. I guess i shouldnt be suprised since these prehistoric screwheads also elected Kit”puffface”bond and John Asscroft.

Exactly. I sent Michael Moore a note about his being all but ambushed here. Everyone should. What a completely inept way to go about exposing these people. Take down two of your own.

Maybe you should have watched Michael Moore when you were in grade school, Mike. You might have picked up how to actually not sandbag your own peeps.

mike @ michealmoore.com

Mike, I think you’ve landed on a great tactic for dividing and marginalizing Republicans. Maybe you should ask your readers to go to their Republican reps public events over the August recess and videotape their responses. If anybody has a Flip camera or the video camera on the new iPhone? If they deny there’s any substance there, we can link to the videos on conservative blogs to get them in hot water with their base. If they hedge, we can circulate them further. Any interest in a call to action on this?

Yeah, I don’t get the attacks on Sheehan or Moore. Have they advanced terribly false, whacko theories with subtexts derived from projective identification and prejudice to drive up hysteria in an uneducated segment of the population? I don’t know. My guess is: most likely not.

Um, yes he was. In Westmoreland County, Virginia. And John Adams….and Thomas Jefferson. The first 3 presidents of our nation were born right here. Ya think maybe that’s why it was so important that they put it in the Constitution? Duh. As for the birthers. They should just hang it up. It is arrogance that prevents the administration from opening his records – not avoidance. Also, where are his college records? Bush’s were put out there for all to see and ridicule. Where are Obama’s? He’s immune to this transparency he promised?

I’m pretty sure I didn’t say Michael Moore or Cindy Sheehan were looney. I said Democrats marginalize their loonies, and mentioned Michale Moore and Cindy Sheehan because they are the two most frequently villified activists on our side (unjust as that may be). And, whether I like it or not, it is our side as much as any that is doing the marginalizing.

Maybe I made the point inartfully – and for that I am prepared to apologize to two of my heros – both Moore and Sheehan… But I had to use two people that Blunt would recognize.

Doing my best out here. And I don’t think Michael or Cindy really mind a friend using them as rhetorical devices if it makes Republicans uncomfortable.

mike, good job, i appreciate what you are doing here.

but i must agree w/the others, whether you meant to imply that michael moore and cindy sheehan were loonies, you came off as such. you said that the republicans are “captive to a kind of crazy base where democrats marginalize michael moore and cindy sheehan…”

that’s equivalency by implication, i’m afraid.

i know you were operating on the fly, but an even bigger criticism of that particular moment: you got mclintock to agree w/you, you didn’t need to give a speech afterwards. you should have just given him major props for telling the truth.

just my two cents…but please keep up the good work.

Let me begin with one quote, beth:

“Distracting a politician from governing is like distracting a bear from eating your baby.” (P.J. O’Rourke)

…and close with another:

“The more money that has been spent on government-run healthcare, the less healthcare we have gotten. This kind of result is generally true of all government bureaucracies because of the absence of any market feedback mechanism. Since there are no profits in an accounting sense, by definition, in government, there is no mechanism for rewarding good performance and penalizing bad performance. In fact, in all government enterprises, exactly the opposite is true: bad performance (failure to achieve ostensible goals, or satisfy ‘customers’) is typically rewarded with larger budgets. Failure to educate children leads to more money for government schools. Failure to reduce poverty leads to larger budgets for welfare state bureaucracies. This is guaranteed to happen with healthcare socialism as well.” (Thomas J. DiLorenzo, at http://www.lewrockwell.com/dil…..zo175.html )

Mike, if you’re still here. Good work on getting these Repug faces on camera, but a couple suggestions you might try:
1) Try asking them this question: “Do you agree with Rush Limbaugh that President Obama is an angry black man?”
2) If you get a brush-off response, follow up with “So you don’t want to comment on that, I guess you’re afraid to offend Rush. Let me ask you, do you ask ‘How Far’ when Rush tells you to bend over?” “I see, I’ve struck a nerve there. Just how far do you bend over?”

This needs to be rehearsed so the delivery is smooth, no stuttering trying to make a point, just say things to put them on the defensive right away and keep them there.

I do not agree with making a comparison with Cindy Sheehan and Michael Moore, two people I admire very much. Again, good work.

You actually did worse than calling them loony. You called them extremists.

“It seems like a lot of Republicans including, uh, some in leadership… umm… have expressed some doubts or said that doubts exist. And it seems to us that people are kind of beholden, they’re captive to kind of a crazy base, where Democrats kind of marginalize Michael Moore and Cindy Sheehan, it seems like Republicans, maybe because of electoral prospects are forced to embrace them and WE THINK [here at Firedog Lake] the country is better off when WE MARGINALIZE ALL THE EXTREMISTS.” [as in birthers, Mike, Cindy, etc.]

Yeah, I’d say that was a bit inartful.

Batshit Crazy Bachman has 3 viable Republican opponents and 3 viable opponents from the Dems. Should be interesting.