Donald Trump’s pitch for the Republican US presidential nomination has been compared to recent media sideshows like Charlie Sheen and Rebecca Black. The better comparison is California’s 2003 recall election that became worldwide entertainment.
Birthers
Krugman: How the lunatic Right could bring down America
The Republican Party’s “lunatic fringe” — your Birthers, teabaggers, etc — isn’t really a fringe at all, says Paul Krugman: it’s taking control of the party. And if paranoid, far-right candidates win state office, the entire country could become “ungovernable”.
The (Dis)Information Age: how the internet is making us stupider
Despite the rhetoric of “openness”, the internet is actually making us more narrow-minded by allowing us to filter what we read to suit our own viewpoints, says a new book by academic Cass Sunstein. How else can you explain the absurd ideas of the “birthers” gaining a foothold?
The 10 stupidest Obama conspiracy theories
Birthers, Death Panels and brainwashing, oh my! The look at some of the stupidest conspiracy theories that have plagued US President Barack Obama and his administration.
Tough times for truth seekers
Between Birthers and town hall hellraisers yelling about “death panels”, America’s media watchdogs find it hard to get their voices heard over the mountain of myths and misconceptions permeating the country’s political thinking.
America: batshit crazy for over 200 years
Birthers, tea-parties, town-hall hecklers and death squads: is America getting crazier? No, says Rick Perlstein, Americans have always been nuts — only now the media are fanning the flames of insanity further.
Let’s pretend Obama was foreign-born. Now what?
So we know that the Birthers are crazy. But let’s pretend for a second that President Obama was not born in the United States. Does he lose the presidency? Slate explains.
Overlap between Birthers and climate change sceptics
Is US right wing irrationality — with climate change sceptics and Birthers still questioning their president’s birthplace — appearing in Australian politics?
Hawaii: He’s our Obama
Officials in Hawaii have once again dug up Barack Obama’s birth records to prove his US citizenship in the face of mounting claims (or mounting press coverage about said claims) that he is not a natural-born American.
The Birthers: who are they and what do they want?
A new movement amongst US conservatives is growing (or at least growing in hype): the Birthers, folk who believe Barack Obama was actually born in Kenya and is thus not a legitimate president. But just who are they? And when are they going away?
New York Magazine / Tuesday, 22 September 2009
Birthers, teabaggers, town hallers, speech-to-schools scaremongers… the certifiably insane have officially taken over America’s political discourse. How did things get so crazy, so quickly? Is it fear driven by the likes of Rush Limbaugh and Glenn Beck, or is Obama himself to blame?