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You are here: Home / Like Bush, He’s a Uniter

Like Bush, He’s a Uniter

by John Cole|  July 29, 200912:36 pm| 118 Comments

This post is in: Assholes

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Via the Sadlies, it is nice to see that everyone worldwide hates Bill O’Reilly:

That place looks like sheer hell. I didn’t see one KFC or Sheetz in any of those clips.

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Reader Interactions

118Comments

  1. 1.

    MikeJ

    July 29, 2009 at 12:40 pm

    I want vlaamse frites.

  2. 2.

    R-Jud

    July 29, 2009 at 12:41 pm

    And no American flags! What’s wrong with them, don’t they love America?

    Oy.

  3. 3.

    Michael Scott

    July 29, 2009 at 12:42 pm

    That O’Reilly – he’s so knowledgeable!

  4. 4.

    YellowJournalism

    July 29, 2009 at 12:43 pm

    I love that it’s “naive” to teach about safe sex.

  5. 5.

    PeakVT

    July 29, 2009 at 12:44 pm

    And the health care! People are dying in the streets from the plague! It’s total chaos there!

    Prohibition War on Drugs – f*ck yeah!

  6. 6.

    WereBear

    July 29, 2009 at 12:47 pm

    What I never have gotten about Billo is how he can say the stupidest, most reality-free statements; and yet because his viewers want to believe it, they do.

  7. 7.

    Hunter Gathers

    July 29, 2009 at 12:48 pm

    No KFC? The horror! Where does one obtain deep fried ‘chicken’ in Amsterdam?

  8. 8.

    Bootlegger

    July 29, 2009 at 12:49 pm

    If that’s anarchy I wants me some!

  9. 9.

    The Moar You Know

    July 29, 2009 at 12:50 pm

    In a sane society, Bill O’ Reilly would be the constant victim of death threats, be afraid to go outside, would constantly have his studio vandalized and would have to deal with screaming protestors chained to the doors of his house and workplace.

    That treatment in America is reserved for women’s health care clinics.

    We’re the frog in the pot of boiling water. We have no idea of just how fucked we are, because we’re right in the middle of it.

  10. 10.

    Bootlegger

    July 29, 2009 at 12:50 pm

    @Hunter Gathers: I don’t know, but the fried fish and fried lentil samiches (falafel) were insane!

  11. 11.

    MikeJ

    July 29, 2009 at 12:51 pm

    KFC

  12. 12.

    Bootlegger

    July 29, 2009 at 12:51 pm

    @The Moar You Know: A frog? Are you suggesting, sir, that we are French?!!

    At the very least we’re the lobster, thank you very much.

  13. 13.

    PeakVT

    July 29, 2009 at 12:52 pm

    Err, scratch that last line.

    I can haz edit funkshun nao?

  14. 14.

    adolphus

    July 29, 2009 at 12:53 pm

    What’s a Scheetz? Is there a fast food establishment I am not aware of? How did I miss it? What do they fry?

  15. 15.

    shoutingattherain

    July 29, 2009 at 12:54 pm

    Affordable hookers, hashish, and healthcare?

    Sign me up!

  16. 16.

    Shaun

    July 29, 2009 at 12:55 pm

    I lived in Amsterdam for a year. It definitely seemed like a great place to raise kids. The people know how to live. Six weeks paid vacation and they leave the office on time every day. The women are hot too.

    Dutch food is awful though.

    And I know of three KFCs in Amsterdam.

  17. 17.

    SpotWeld

    July 29, 2009 at 12:55 pm

    If Bill O’Reilly ever got wacked out on GoodBalls… would anyone be able to tell?

  18. 18.

    adolphus

    July 29, 2009 at 12:55 pm

    Oh, I see. The Google sez it’s a chain of gas stations. Well, it would seem to me the lack of them just proves Bill’s point. How can an orderly civilization not be in thrall to soma oil.

  19. 19.

    Brachiator

    July 29, 2009 at 12:56 pm

    Via the Sadlies, it is nice to see that everyone worldwide hates Bill O’Reilly

    He’s really on a roll.

    Last night on the O’Reilly Factor, Bill turned to the audience letters. From Peter in Canada: “Has anyone noted that life expectancy in Canada under our health system is higher than the USA?” Bill wasn’t phased, but he did use some creative math to answer. “Well Peter, that’s to be expected,” he said, “we have ten times as many people as you do!”

    The link to the story is here.

    http://meganmcardle.theatlantic.com/archives/2009/07/department_of_awful_statistics_8.php

    The fun thing is reading wingnuts doing new math to prove Bill right.

  20. 20.

    SadieSue

    July 29, 2009 at 1:00 pm

    Sorry – commenting to get my cookie (site still looks wonky)

  21. 21.

    Comrade Jake

    July 29, 2009 at 1:02 pm

    And yet, even Bill-O thinks the birthers are nutjobs. Hello Lou Dobbs, Earth is calling you.

  22. 22.

    Evinfuilt

    July 29, 2009 at 1:04 pm

    Two of my non-insane family members moved there in the 90s. I remember hearing from my Grandmother after her first visit how one cousin had a marvelous green thumb, he apartment was beautiful from all of the plant growth.

    Anyways, last I checked both cousins are extremely happy and comfortable there (one has recently had his second child.) Born in Scotland, they tried the US and once they landed in Amsterdam they never wanted to leave.

    Of course, my cousin in Israel also never wants to leave. So I really don’t want to base anything too much off of anecdotes. Learning Dutch will be fun, but worth the effort if I ever move over there (yay to being an EU citizen.)

  23. 23.

    toujoursdan

    July 29, 2009 at 1:04 pm

    We’re the frog in the pot of boiling water. We have no idea of just how fucked we are, because we’re right in the middle of it.

    In Easter Island they chopped down their forest at a faster and faster rate to build and transport bigger and bigger statues. In Ancient Rome they threw their strongest into the coliseums for death matches. In the Aztec and Mayan empire they couldn’t sacrifice people to the gods quickly enough.

    When civilizations go into a decline and fall their populations seem to get crazier and crazier. I am beginning to wonder if we’ve entered that phase.

  24. 24.

    RedKitten

    July 29, 2009 at 1:06 pm

    “Has anyone noted that life expectancy in Canada under our health system is higher than the USA?” Bill wasn’t phased, but he did use some creative math to answer. “Well Peter, that’s to be expected,” he said, “we have ten times as many people as you do!”

    And one extra idiot, from the looks of things. Maybe Bill’s right — maybe American life expectancy isn’t lower because of your lack of healthcare. Maybe it’s lower because your people are exposed to toxic levels of stupid on a regular basis.

  25. 25.

    GregB

    July 29, 2009 at 1:08 pm

    Of course their crime statistics are skewed, they are a very small country.

    Every crime seems so much larger.

    Duh.

    -G

  26. 26.

    Zifnab

    July 29, 2009 at 1:09 pm

    @YellowJournalism:

    I love that it’s “naive” to teach about safe sex.

    If everyone knew about safe sex, Bill O’Reily would never get laid.

    And one extra idiot, from the looks of things. Maybe Bill’s right—maybe American life expectancy isn’t lower because of your lack of healthcare. Maybe it’s lower because your people are exposed to toxic levels of stupid on a regular basis.

    I’m waiting for foreign nations to institute some kind of quarantine and screening us for fringe nuttiness at airports.

    “What’s that you’ve got there, sir? Ann Coulter’s latest novel? You’re going to need to step over here and remove your shoes.”

  27. 27.

    John S.

    July 29, 2009 at 1:14 pm

    Amsterdam is a fantastic city.

    Aside from the fact that it is really scenic, clean and the people are extremely friendly, the ability to smoke a joint without fear of incarceration is delightful.

    But the food really does suck.

  28. 28.

    Bisquits

    July 29, 2009 at 1:15 pm

    More Tunch and Lily plz. Just commenting to get mah cookies.

  29. 29.

    Mike P

    July 29, 2009 at 1:19 pm

    Unrelated, but Sully is back on the birther bandwagon.

  30. 30.

    A Mom Anon

    July 29, 2009 at 1:23 pm

    Honest to god,please tell me that whatever health care crapola we end up with there’s a fucking mental health provision with no lifetime limit. Our punditry needs some serious freaking help. Jesus.

  31. 31.

    LD50

    July 29, 2009 at 1:28 pm

    What that clip conveniently OMITS is that they put mayonnaise on their french fries in Amsterdam!

  32. 32.

    John Hamilton Farr

    July 29, 2009 at 1:29 pm

    This is all just fine for Fox viewers. Who wants to go to Amsterdam and run into a bunch of American idiots?

  33. 33.

    LD50

    July 29, 2009 at 1:29 pm

    But the food really does suck.

    When I was there it was clear that Indonesian restaurants were the way to go.

  34. 34.

    burnspbesq

    July 29, 2009 at 1:33 pm

    @A Mom Anon:

    In order to get help, you have to first realize that you need help. Which means that your well-intentioned plan isn’t going to work.

  35. 35.

    John S.

    July 29, 2009 at 1:35 pm

    @LD50:

    Last time I was there with some friends we found a terrific Japanese restaurant off the Leidesplein. We literally camped out there every day for a week to the point where the sushi chef knew us by name. I’m sure the Indonesian places are just as good.

    But when it came to anything remotely “Dutch” – even continental cuisine or simple pub fare – yikes. It made British food seem like cuisine by comparison.

  36. 36.

    Bootlegger

    July 29, 2009 at 1:37 pm

    @John S.: Ok enough of this “food sucks” nonsense, I visited a falafel stand near one of the big squares and it was the best damned sandwich I ever had. Lots of tasty toppings too. Of course now that I think about it I have to wonder what role the day spent in the coffeeshops had on my culinary experience.

  37. 37.

    handy

    July 29, 2009 at 1:37 pm

    The best meal I had my whole time in Amsterdam was at a McDonald’s. That’s all I’ll say about the food there.

  38. 38.

    Bootlegger

    July 29, 2009 at 1:38 pm

    @John S.: I had a tasty fish and chips in a pub. But see my “coffeehouse” disclaimer above.

  39. 39.

    Maureen

    July 29, 2009 at 1:39 pm

    I lived in Amsterdam for a year. It is a wonderful place to live. That said, after they legalized marijuana, there was an instant spike in usage but it has declined to very low levels. As they say, that stuff’s for tourists (at least that was the opinino of most of the professionals I knew from working at a tax law firm). I think that’s just to expected from human nature. Also, there is clear data that some organized criminals were using the coffehouses to launder money, so the government has been more restrictive with the sales of licenses to operate those establishments. So far, it seems to be working.

  40. 40.

    John S.

    July 29, 2009 at 1:39 pm

    Unrelated, but Sully is back on the birther bandwagon.

    Now that he doesn’t have Sarah Palin to kick around and the Iranian ‘revolution’ to obsess over, he will need to find other outlets for his daily screeds.

    “ZOMG OBAMA HATES TEH GAYS” is only going to give him so much material to work with.

  41. 41.

    LD50

    July 29, 2009 at 1:41 pm

    I never ceased to be amazed by the wingnut hatred of all foreign countries except Israel.

  42. 42.

    El Cid

    July 29, 2009 at 1:41 pm

    Excuse the fuck out of me, idiot Andrew Sullivan, but exactly when did original birth certificate copies become public record?

    When does Obama have to provide to some non-family shitbag nut his original Social Security card or his ATM card with PIN number?

    Exactly which persons have achieved the right of having access to Obama’s personal documents just because they’re a conspiracist nut?

    This is journalism? This is the sage, skeptical advice of a fucking honored commentator? WTF?

  43. 43.

    LD50

    July 29, 2009 at 1:43 pm

    @handy: Dutch food is like English food except without all those spices.

  44. 44.

    A Mom Anon

    July 29, 2009 at 1:44 pm

    @burnspbesq:

    Hey,I didn’t say it was a perfect plan,lol.

    What’s sad though is no one loves any of them enough to stage an intervention.

  45. 45.

    John S.

    July 29, 2009 at 1:44 pm

    @Bootlegger:

    Do I really need to state the obvious, that falafel isn’t Dutch food? The fish n’ chips I had in a pub next to the Bulldog was absolutely dreadful (seconded by by British traveling companion).

    Granted, I spent a week inside the “coffee shops” myself, and while it attributed to the death of a good many brain cells, it did nothing of the sort to my taste buds. Sadly.

    And the fucking McDonald’s by the train station (in between the Grasshopper and the Red Light District) charged 60 cents for each packet of ketchup! That’s an American/British surtax if I’ve ever seen one since most Europeans seem to prefer mayo on their chips.

  46. 46.

    gex

    July 29, 2009 at 1:45 pm

    @Mike P: I guess BOB is a guest blogger for Sullivan this week. Wait, what? Sullivan’s back? What a fucking tool.

  47. 47.

    TR

    July 29, 2009 at 1:46 pm

    OT, but this needs wide reading:

    http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/07/28/AR2009072802115.html

  48. 48.

    angulimala

    July 29, 2009 at 1:47 pm

    It’s clear that all those happy smiling people are just whacked out on drugs and therefore numb to the cesspool of addiction and violence all around them.

  49. 49.

    Calouste

    July 29, 2009 at 1:48 pm

    @LD50:

    Yep, Indonesian/Chinese and Greek restaurants tend to be pretty good. Dutch fast food sucks, although it just sucks in different ways than American fast food, not necessarilly more.

    There are btw parts of Amsterdam that are sheer hell. About three quarters of the housing market is rental accomodation, with either a multi-year waiting list for subsidized housing or about double the price on the private market. And that for about 600 or 800 sq ft.

  50. 50.

    LD50

    July 29, 2009 at 1:49 pm

    But why are we supposed to rely on the testimony of Dr Fukino, whom I believe entirely. It is not my job as a journalist or yours as a citizen to take public officials on trust. They are not to be trusted, whoever they are. It is our job to demand all the evidence we want or need. I know the electronic record is legit. I have no doubt that Obama has every constitutional right to be president. I think the Birthers are nuts. But there is no reason on earth that the original cannot be retrieved and shown. Jon Klein and CNN were wrong, and I retract my apology of yesterday.
    Obama promised total transparency. Where is it? Or will it arrive at the moment when he tackles the deficit, and withdraws from Iraq?

    Swell. Sully Is Now An Official Birther. What a douchebag.

    This makes my decision to quit reading him two months ago look prescient indeed.

  51. 51.

    TR

    July 29, 2009 at 1:51 pm

    Try Wagamama’s and Supper Club NL. Outstanding.

    Or hell, live off mussels and pomme frites.

  52. 52.

    area man

    July 29, 2009 at 1:56 pm

    Posting to fix the cookie issue but, dayum!, reading LD50’s Sullivan excerpt is kinda startling. I really didn’t figure him for a birther. Between this and his Bell Curve boosterism I think what’s ‘transparent’ here is Sullivan’s idiocy.

  53. 53.

    Trinity

    July 29, 2009 at 1:57 pm

    @El Cid: I can’t even believe Sully posted that shit. He who never fails to call homophobia to the carpet is unable to see blatant racism. What a piece of work he is.

  54. 54.

    angulimala

    July 29, 2009 at 1:57 pm

    Swell. Sully Is Now An Official Birther. What a douchebag.

    Reading Comprehension FAIL!

    He clearly said that he thinks the birthers are stupid and wrong but, also, that the word of a public official, whether cop or not, is not to be taken as “proof” of anything.

  55. 55.

    John S.

    July 29, 2009 at 1:57 pm

    Sully Is Now An Official Birther. What a douchebag.

    He also breathlessly links to a “must read” by Megan McArdle (as if there is such a thing) titled:

    Why I Oppose National Health Care

    It’s both technically false and collectively nonsense. As if we needed any other explanation from a glibertarian that goes beyond invoking the supreme power of the invisible hand of the free market and reaffirmation of the “fuck you, I got mine” mindset.

  56. 56.

    low-tech cyclist

    July 29, 2009 at 1:58 pm

    “Are you getting somewhere,
    Or did you get lost in wingnut-land?”
    -with apologies to Guster

  57. 57.

    Lee from NC

    July 29, 2009 at 1:58 pm

    Me needs cookie. We now continue with the regularly scheduled thread.

  58. 58.

    RandomChick

    July 29, 2009 at 2:00 pm

    This is journalism?

    Exactly my thoughts. I’ve been on the fence about Sully for a while, a feeling exacerbated by his stunt doubles. He finally jumped the shark for me today. I’ve deleted his column from my Google Reader account.

    I’ve no doubt he’ll be crushed.

  59. 59.

    Englischlehrer on vacation

    July 29, 2009 at 2:00 pm

    Having been to Amsterdam 7 times, it is a remarkable city. True, I do like to partake of the green and that is partly the interest factor but there is so much to see and do in that city and with the exception of the creepy-factor of the horndogs walking in the red light district at night, the city seems quite safe to me. I think it’s funny that teaching about safe sex is naive and yet our abstinence programs have encouraged higher rates or oral and anal sex and STDs, all because we don’t tell our kids what to do and how to do it.

  60. 60.

    John S.

    July 29, 2009 at 2:02 pm

    the word of a public official, whether cop or not, is not to be taken as “proof” of anything

    Reading Comprehension SUPERFAIL!

    Or more accurately, reading into the intent of Sully’s concern trolling. The fact that he concludes with:

    Obama promised total transparency. Where is it?

    Shows how utterly pompous and full of shit he is. This is not much different than BOB proclaiming that until he can touch Obama’s birth certificate, he can’t possibly believe that he was born in the United States. And if Sully wants to play by birther rules, than he’s not too far off from being a full-fledged birther.

  61. 61.

    LD50

    July 29, 2009 at 2:02 pm

    He clearly said that he thinks the birthers are stupid and wrong but, also, that the word of a public official, whether cop or not, is not to be taken as “proof” of anything.

    He’s now parroting the exact same whines as the birthers. His claims boil down to “those birthers are wacky, and I’m sure Obama was born in Hawaii but WHY WON’T OBAMA LET ME TOUCH HIS BIRTH CERTIFICATE?”

    Somehow Obama has to prove he’s American and not other president ever had to. Sully’s now officially part of the problem and still a douchebag.

    And I’m sure him painting his blog green did wonders for the Iranian people

  62. 62.

    Trinity

    July 29, 2009 at 2:02 pm

    @RandomChick: I deleted him from my reader account too. I hope there are more like us. He should have stayed on vacation permanently.

  63. 63.

    RobNYNY1957

    July 29, 2009 at 2:02 pm

    The best place to try Dutch cuisine at a reasonable price used to be “Hollands Glorie” near the Leidseplein. I have no idea if it’s still there. I haven’t been to Amsterdam in about 8 years. The Indonesian food has become considerably tamer since I was first there in 1976, but is still good.

  64. 64.

    Brachiator

    July 29, 2009 at 2:03 pm

    @LD50:

    I never ceased to be amazed by the wingnut hatred of all foreign countries except Israel.

    They mainly love Israel when hardliners are sticking it to the Muslims.

    And the most despicable wingnuts love Israel but hate Jews. The best of both worlds as far as they are concerned.

  65. 65.

    The Grand Panjandrum

    July 29, 2009 at 2:04 pm

    @The Moar You Know:

    We’re the frog in the pot of boiling water.

    I just heard James Fallows scream all the way from China.

  66. 66.

    MikeJ

    July 29, 2009 at 2:04 pm

    that the word of a public official, whether cop or not, is not to be taken as “proof” of anything.

    Obama has done more than any candidate in history. He produced a birth certificate. If I were asked to produce a birth certificate (and I have been, like at the passport office), I couldn’t produce anything more than Obama has. Why should a federal officer order a state officer to do something they normally wouldn’t even consider doing to shut up some morons who aren’t going to be satisfied anyway?

  67. 67.

    comrade scott's agenda of rage

    July 29, 2009 at 2:05 pm

    Nobody outside your region will get the Sheetz reference. Those of us who grew up thereabouts and spent any time traveling in central PA, western MD and WV (aka Greater Mississippi) know them as your standard gas and pees.

  68. 68.

    gex

    July 29, 2009 at 2:05 pm

    @angulimala: Whatever. He doesn’t doubt Obama’s citizenship, he just tacitly agrees to the following:

    The birth announcements in the newspaper weren’t enough. The copy produced form the records and posted online or viewed by Fact Check isn’t enough. The word of the official isn’t enough. The *fact that his mother is/was an American citizen* is not enough.

    Sully ignores the evidence that the birthers won’t be satisfied by any proof whatsoever and is willing to add to this circus so he can grandstand on some principle of having our elected officials answering to us. Technically he’s not a birther. But he might as well be if what it boils down to is another voice demanding that he present the original documents.

  69. 69.

    vacuumslayer

    July 29, 2009 at 2:07 pm

    It really does look like a terrible terrible place to live. All those non-obese people waving and smiling? Terrifying!

  70. 70.

    EEH

    July 29, 2009 at 2:08 pm

    So? It tastes wonderful and it sure beats that flavor-killing red crap that we put on everything over here. I’d permanently ban it from our house if not for my husband who is totally enamoured with the stuff.

  71. 71.

    vacuumslayer

    July 29, 2009 at 2:09 pm

    @GregB: ROFL!

  72. 72.

    LD50

    July 29, 2009 at 2:10 pm

    @Brachiator: It’s funny, when the American political process turned to shit in ’00 and ’04, liberals were able to fantasize about moving to Canada or western Europe, countries that didn’t have problems with the revolting social trends the GOP have gifted us with. In ’08, the wingnuts had no such foreign country to turn to because (a) they hate everyone else except Israel, and who wants to live there? and (b) NO other country is lives by their wingnut code. There’s no other country in the world where their unique pathology holds sway, and to be honest, most of America doesn’t, either.

    Must be rough to ascribe to an ideology that basically says that the American South is the only socially acceptable part of the world.

  73. 73.

    steve s

    July 29, 2009 at 2:10 pm

    Between Sullivan’s hideous opposition to health care reform, the Trig nonsense, and now this birther crap, I’m done with him too. Delete.

  74. 74.

    EEH

    July 29, 2009 at 2:10 pm

    Ugh, the block quote didn’t show up on my previous post.

    “What that clip conveniently OMITS is that they put mayonnaise on their french fries in Amsterdam!”

  75. 75.

    Bootlegger

    July 29, 2009 at 2:12 pm

    @John S.: No duh. But the fair number of immigrants in that port city means they do have decent food in the city of Amsterdam . Pub food is uneven here in central Kentucky too. And mayo on chips/fries is a fuckin’ abomination!

  76. 76.

    nancydarling

    July 29, 2009 at 2:13 pm

    cookie please!

  77. 77.

    El Cid

    July 29, 2009 at 2:14 pm

    If Arnold Schwarzenegger fails to give me, anonymous internet weirdo, his actual original birth certificate so I can carry out identity theft and buy new cars under his name, I refuse to believe he’s being transparent about being Austrian.

  78. 78.

    Brick Oven Bill

    July 29, 2009 at 2:14 pm

    Joe Miller got to touch the birth certificate with his fingers John S. This is, I suspect, because Joe works for Annenberg, a political ally of the Obama Administration. I have no desire to touch the certificate with my fingers, but General Gene Renuart of the Northern Command should have the opportunity to touch it with his.

    I also think that Plaintiff’s attorneys should be able to touch it, just like Joe. If it is real, then these Plaintiff’s attorneys will leave the President alone and let him get on with his busy agenda. This will also calm those fringe groups that Janet keeps warning us about and reduce the chances of another person at the Holocaust museum being shot.

    I have zero desire to go to Amsterdam. Those smiling happy people eating ice cream by the water fountain seem like decadent, self-indulgent, cretins.

  79. 79.

    MikeJ

    July 29, 2009 at 2:15 pm

    in ‘08, the wingnuts had no such foreign country to turn to

    Somalia.

  80. 80.

    vacuumslayer

    July 29, 2009 at 2:15 pm

    @EEH: I’m having a lot of trouble with the tags, too…and the tag buttons are no longer available to me. Site’s been slightly wonky for me past couple of days.

  81. 81.

    kay

    July 29, 2009 at 2:15 pm

    @steve s:

    He’s a conservative. The answer to health care reform is to deregulate to bring down costs and encourage competition, and offer a tax credit. Plus, some finger-shaking at wasteful spending and earmarks and such, and personal responsibility, too.
    Has he ever been anything other than lock-step on economic policy? If so, I missed it, but I don’t read him a lot.

  82. 82.

    handy

    July 29, 2009 at 2:18 pm

    This will also calm those fringe groups that Janet keeps warning us about and reduce the chances of another person at the Holocaust museum being shot.

    No.

  83. 83.

    Bootlegger

    July 29, 2009 at 2:19 pm

    @Brick Oven Bill: If the General wants to touch my birth certificate he’ll get my foot up his ass first. Just sayin’.

  84. 84.

    angulimala

    July 29, 2009 at 2:24 pm

    The birth announcements in the newspaper weren’t enough. The copy produced form the records and posted online or viewed by Fact Check isn’t enough. The word of the official isn’t enough. The fact that his mother is/was an American citizen is not enough.

    Well, I guess we just interpret this differently:

    But why are we supposed to rely on the testimony of Dr Fukino, whom I believe entirely. It is not my job as a journalist or yours as a citizen to take public officials on trust. They are not to be trusted, whoever they are. … . I have no doubt that Obama has every constitutional right to be president. I think the Birthers are nuts.

    I think it is a just trying to acknowledge that intellectual honesty demands being cynical about the words public officials even when they tell us what we already believe.

    I see that many of you disagree and think cynicism is only properly reserved for people who disagree with you. Well, you are in the majority in that regard.

  85. 85.

    Brachiator

    July 29, 2009 at 2:24 pm

    @LD50:

    Must be rough to ascribe to an ideology that basically says that the American South circa 1820 is the only socially acceptable part of the world.

    Fixed.

    I see your point, and increasingly (and especially in the case of the wingnut love affair with Sarah Palin) the wingnuts yearn for a fantasy land America that does not currently exist, and never really existed except in their own minds.

    They are as pathetic as the character in the Twilight Zone episode, “A Stop at Willoughby,” tragically yearning for a deceptively simple world which caters to his weaknesses and fears:

    Willoughby? Maybe it’s wishful thinking nestled in a hidden part of a man’s mind, or maybe it’s the last stop in the vast design of things, or perhaps, for a man like Mr. Gart Williams, who climbed on a world that went by too fast, it’s a place around the bend where he could jump off. Willoughby? Whatever it is, it comes with sunlight and serenity, and is a part of the Twilight Zone.

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Stop_at_Willoughby

  86. 86.

    Comrade Kevin

    July 29, 2009 at 2:27 pm

    If you ever visit Amsterdan, you absolutely must try the Poffertjes.

  87. 87.

    jwb

    July 29, 2009 at 2:29 pm

    Having read the article that Sully links to, I don’t see why, if the record exists on paper, he sees it as Obama’s issue rather than the State of Hawaii’s. Surely, all Obama can get from the state is the certificate of live birth that he’s already shown (which is what he’d send in to get a passport) and I can’t imagine that the state of Hawaii can issue anything other than that, which basically just attests to the original record that the state is holding. Does anyone know the law in Hawaii? Is Obama’s record here being treated any differently than anyone else’s? Because the only way Sully could be making any sense at all would be if Obama’s record had some sort of special hold on it that placed restrictions on access that set it apart from other birth records in the state.

  88. 88.

    Brick Oven Bill

    July 29, 2009 at 2:30 pm

    I was compelled to let the passport person touch my birth certificate Bootlegger. There were guys with guns at this federal facility. I was not allowed to pack as this was a federal facility and I had to go through a metal detector. I had no desire to kick this passport person’s ass.

    But if I did have this desire, and acted out my emotions, there is a good chance that I would have been overwhelmed. The passport person who touched my birth certificate seemed like a nice person.

    Fukino. Heh.

  89. 89.

    El Cid

    July 29, 2009 at 2:32 pm

    So, this is all about conservatives who are jealous because Obama’s not letting them touch his thingy?

  90. 90.

    Tiparillo

    July 29, 2009 at 2:35 pm

    Amsterdam…. the city my adopted home of Portland wishes it were…..

  91. 91.

    gex

    July 29, 2009 at 2:35 pm

    @angulimala: For me the issue is that the word of this official is not the only evidence we have, it is a piece of corroborating evidence. And you make far to many assumptions about where I think cynicism is appropriate or not. But go ahead and attack me if it makes you feel better. Clearly I’m just a partisan simpleton. I just don’t think we need to start proving things from first principles every someone makes a stink like this.

    In part, I don’t know how to get beyond Sullivan’s specific demand. An official viewed a record and reported it to be valid. In what way is having someone go view an original document and reporting it to be valid any different? Is a photocopy of the original document sufficient to those who demand to see the “original document”? This has already been done, it was posted and it was viewed by Fact Check. The birthers, and now Sully, want to see originals, not copies. They don’t want to trust the word of someone who has seen the records. All we are left with the daunting task of setting up a national tour of a piece of paper because Sullivan needs to make a specific point.

  92. 92.

    gex

    July 29, 2009 at 2:37 pm

    @angulimala: Also see this comment. @jwb

    How’s it feel to be so superior to the rest of us, BTW?

  93. 93.

    El Cid

    July 29, 2009 at 2:38 pm

    @gex: Obama needs to let me touch his burf certifat or I won’t respect his aw-thor-tay.

  94. 94.

    angulimala

    July 29, 2009 at 2:52 pm

    How’s it feel to be so superior to the rest of us, BTW?

    Not as good as you might think. It is so very lonely at the top :).

    Seriously though, what I initially reacted to was LD50’s comment that

    Sully Is Now An Official Birther

    which is just fucking stupid.

    I never defended the final analysis of Sully or said that a demand for the certificate was terribly justified.

  95. 95.

    Brachiator

    July 29, 2009 at 2:55 pm

    @angulimala:

    I think it is a just trying to acknowledge that intellectual honesty demands being cynical about the words public officials even when they tell us what we already believe.

    Intellectual honesty has got nothing to do with anything. Few other presidential candidates have been asked to produce birth documents, especially when based on nothing but chimeras of hysteria and racial paranoia. And as was the case with Chester A. Arthur, the conspiracy claims escalate and spiral out of control until they become a crazy claim immune to any rational response.

    During the 1880 U.S. presidential election a New York attorney, Arthur P. Hinman, was hired to explore rumors of Arthur’s foreign birth. Hinman alleged that Arthur was born in Ireland and did not come to the United States until he was fourteen years old. When that story failed to take root Hinman came forth with a new story that Arthur was born in Canada. This claim also fell on deaf ears.

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chester_A_Arthur

    Obama gains nothing by producing his birth certificate because there is no factual issue to be proved or resolved, and the birthers will simply invent another fantasy to fuel their delusions.

    It’s like those who are convinced that Obama is really a Muslim, who just happened to attend a radical black nationalist Christian church for cover. The baby Jebus himself could reappear and anoint Obama, and it would not be enough to satisfy the wingnuts.

    Bonus conspiracy synchronicity: Chester Arthur’s father had initially migrated to Dunham, Lower Canada from Vermont. Barack Obama’s mother’s maiden name was Stanley Ann Dunham. Chester Arthur’s mother was named Malvina The Malvinas are islands. Hawaii is an island! OOOOH!

  96. 96.

    El Cid

    July 29, 2009 at 3:01 pm

    I have never been allowed to touch the original long-form copy of the U.S. Constitution, so until that occurs I do not believe it exists.

  97. 97.

    angulimala

    July 29, 2009 at 3:02 pm

    Obama gains nothing by producing his birth certificate because there is no factual issue to be proved or resolved, and the birthers will simply invent another fantasy to fuel their delusions.

    I agree. Sully’s desire to see the certificate is misguided. That doesn’t mean he “is a birther”.

  98. 98.

    gex

    July 29, 2009 at 3:07 pm

    @angulimala: Well, you might have been responding to LD50, but you blockquoted me.

  99. 99.

    Wile E. Quixote

    July 29, 2009 at 3:08 pm

    Why the fuck are we listening to a British expatriate pontificate about the citizenship of the US president? Sully has jumped the shark and he should fuck off back to Blighty and take Peter Brimelow with him.

  100. 100.

    Brachiator

    July 29, 2009 at 3:11 pm

    @angulimala:

    I agree. Sully’s desire to see the certificate is misguided. That doesn’t mean he “is a birther”.

    No, but in this case, he’s a fool.

  101. 101.

    angulimala

    July 29, 2009 at 3:19 pm

    Gex,

    Yes, I blockquoted you’re response to my response to LD50.

    I said LD50 was being stupid and got multiple responses from multiple people. I picked yours to respond to and said I thought Sully was just trying to be somewhat consistent in his distrust of statements by public officials. I got a little snarky about the cynicism point and seem to have pricked you, prompting the “how does it feel comment…”.

    Trying to bring it back to earth, I agree that … by itself … the statement of Fukino doesn’t mean anything more than the statements in Officer Crowley’s police report.

    However, the combined evidence of Hawaiin birth (including a form sufficient for all other legal purposes), and the lack of evidence (apart from the single, and retracted, statement of a very old woman with lots of other Kenyan-born grandchildren) of birth in Kenya (or anywhere else for that matter) makes the continued claim for the mythical “long-form” certificate to be a stupid joke.

  102. 102.

    Bootlegger

    July 29, 2009 at 3:26 pm

    @Brick Oven Bill: Well see, there’s your problem, letting someone compel you into seeing your birth certificate by threat of force. You should have to insert your own boot for such obsequiousness.

  103. 103.

    LD50

    July 29, 2009 at 3:41 pm

    You’re right. Just because Sully is regurgitating the birthers’ arguments and making the same demands as the birthers, that certainly doesn’t mean that I have ANY RIGHT to call him a birther. How I could have jumped to this conclusion, I can’t imagine.

  104. 104.

    Wile E. Quixote

    July 29, 2009 at 3:48 pm

    Brick Oven Bill

    blah, blah, blah, birth certificate, blah, blah, blah, the president’s a ni***r, blah, blah, blah.

    Bill, I’ve asked you this before. Post a scanned copy of your super-duper, limited edition, director’s cut birth certificate of live white birth or whatever it is they gave your parents when you were born and point out those things that make it more authoritative and genuine than the scanned copy of Barack Obama’s birth certificate posted at Snopes.

  105. 105.

    Wile E. Quixote

    July 29, 2009 at 3:51 pm

    I wrote a letter to Andrew. I’m not convinced that he’ll read it, but I needed to tell him, politely, what a stupid bastard he is.

    Do you think, even for one tenth of one second that if the original record retrieved from whatever dusty vault it is sealed in that Orly Taitz, Lou Dobbs and the rest of that jabbering crowd of racist idiots will say “OK, we’re satisfied now. Thank you.”, dismantle their noise machine and go home? If you do then you’re an idiot who should be packed off to Blighty on the next boat or plane because the last thing the US of A needs is more stupid people. Really, we have enough and we don’t need to, despite what Peter Brimelow might say, import more them from Britain.
    If the “limited special edition super duper long form director’s cut birth certificate”, or whatever specific idiocy the birthers are demanding, was produced the Birthers would just shift the goalposts and demand something else, or say that the officials who released the “limited special edition super duper long form director’s cut birth certificate” were in on the conspiracy too.
    I’ve looked at the scanned copy of Obama’s birth certificate posted at snopes,
    http://msgboard.snopes.com/politics/graphics/birth.jpg
    It looks remarkably like the birth certificate that the state of Texas provided my parents in 1965 when I was born; describing when I was born, where I was born and who my parents were. A notarized copy of this birth certificate was good enough to get me enlisted in the Army, cleared for officer training, two secret clearances and a US passport. No one has ever challenged the notarized copy that I ordered from the Texas Department of Vital Statistics. No one has ever asked to see the original copy of my birth certificate or the “limited special edition super duper long form director’s cut” edition of the same. I can only assume that this is because:
    A) I’m white.
    B) I was born in Texas.
    C) All of the above.
    Your supposed concern about “transparency” with regards to this issue is, well, transparently insincere and you come off sounding like a snotty Republican concern troll.

    Before sending the letter I deleted the part where I said that if writing nonsense like this was all it took to be an Atlantic blogger then I wanted Andrew’s job because I could do it just as well as he could, wouldn’t write about my stupid dogs and could also keep the website running.

  106. 106.

    Wile E. Quixote

    July 29, 2009 at 3:54 pm

    @Brachiator

    Bonus conspiracy synchronicity: Chester Arthur’s father had initially migrated to Dunham, Lower Canada from Vermont. Barack Obama’s mother’s maiden name was Stanley Ann Dunham. Chester Arthur’s mother was named Malvina The Malvinas are islands. Hawaii is an island! OOOOH!

    But how does this tie into the faked moon landings of forty years ago? And is it true that Lee Harvey Oswald was just a patsy and that JFK was killed because he was about to start an investigation into Barack Obama’s birth in Hawaii?

  107. 107.

    angulimala

    July 29, 2009 at 3:55 pm

    LD50,

    Its not about “rights”. You have the “right” to say what you want. I didn’t claim otherwise. I said that what you said was stupid. Sully is not a birther. His logic – that releasing the BC will make this issue go away – is flawed, but he is not a birther.

  108. 108.

    asiangrrlMN

    July 29, 2009 at 3:59 pm

    @Wile E. Quixote: I love your shorter B.O.B. It never fails to crack me up. Plus, that’s a brilliant letter to Sully.

    Oh, and as for Amsterdam, I wish I were as miserable as the people in that video!

  109. 109.

    angulimala

    July 29, 2009 at 4:00 pm

    Sully’s logic is that releasing the BC will make this issue die and therefore it is smart to release it.

    I think he is mistaken and wrong.

    It is still a far cry from claiming that , absent such proof, Obama should be presumed to be a non-citizen.

  110. 110.

    burnspbesq

    July 29, 2009 at 4:52 pm

    @El Cid:

    But … they named the soccer stadium in Salzburg after him, so he must be Austrian.

  111. 111.

    Anne Laurie

    July 29, 2009 at 5:55 pm

    What I never have gotten about Billo is how he can say the stupidest, most reality-free statements; and yet because his viewers want to believe it, they do.

    Because it must be said: When it comes to O’Reilly and the “Base”, this is not a bug, it is a feature.

    His job is to say all the stupid, hateful, ignorant shite that his audience doesn’t have the guts and/or platform to prattle.

  112. 112.

    White House Department of Law (fmrly Jim-Bob)

    July 29, 2009 at 8:46 pm

    Food in Amsterdam does NOT suck. Stroopwaffel with coffee, Ristafel, frites, and every other cuisine imaginable? All while stoned?

    Now the beer, that was awful. But I gotta stand up for the Dutch food.

  113. 113.

    Chuck

    July 29, 2009 at 8:53 pm

    The food sucks? Come on, there’s a bodega every four storefronts that sells world-class waffles dipped in chocolate and other pastry to die for.

    Granted, some of the other food leaves a lot to be desired, but fresh-brewed Heineken and real Amstel beer more than make up for it.

    The museums, the parks, the streets, every damn thing in that city puts most major US cities to shame. I was there for New Year’s Eve, and regular citizens get to use whatever fireworks they want (not quite as unsafe as it sounds). The end of the night, the streets were covered in ash and paper. By 2 PM the next day, maybe earlier (I slept in… it was NYE in Amsterdam), the streets and sidewalks were clean. Fairly spotless, in fact.

  114. 114.

    plaindave

    July 29, 2009 at 9:28 pm

    Amsterdam should be on everyone’s bucket list. I worked in Rotterdam for 6 months back in ’83-’84 and loved every minute. Visits to Amsterdam were frequent and memorable. The only bad memory is the garbage strike — Towering piles of rotting garbage bags stinking full blast while in between them a Dutch woman would be scrubbing her stoop with soapy water.

    Dutch food is in no way bad though much of it can be an acquired taste. Limp lettuce comes to mind. Private homes the best places to learn about real Dutch food. I enjoyed kroketten and uitsmijters along with the Malayasian, Indonesian, Argentinian, French, and Chinese restaurants. Sandwiches for breakfast and eggs for lunch was an easy adjustment.

    Don’t get me started on the cheese, or cookies, or coffee, or chocolates, or seafood, or Dutch gin, or beer. I’d trade dining opportunities in Rotterdam or Amsterdam for those in most American cities anytime.

    If you ever have to choose between them, remember this: People in Rotterdam live to work, people in Amsterdam work to live.

  115. 115.

    Wile E. Quixote

    July 30, 2009 at 1:11 am

    Food in Amsterdam does NOT suck. Stroopwaffel with coffee, Ristafel, frites, and every other cuisine imaginable? All while stoned?
    Now the beer, that was awful. But I gotta stand up for the Dutch food.

    Dude, I admire you for standing up for the food, and there’s nothing like getting stoned and then drinking about fourteen cups of really strong Dutch coffee while eating pastries. But I have to disagree with you about the beer, Grolsh and Oranjeboom on tap, the only problem I had was with those lame .3 liter glasses they insist upon serving it in.

  116. 116.

    Ither

    July 30, 2009 at 1:25 am

    Come on, everybody knows French fries are Belgium.

    The poster above is right: Dutch food is an abomination. Amsterdam is stunning and a tourist’s delight. Living here somewhat less so. The city in fact has two, parallel, cultures. The first, for tourists, non-Dutch speakers and horny twenty somethings is very attractive. The other is a social desert and bureaucratic nightmare.

  117. 117.

    Comrade Kevin

    July 30, 2009 at 2:40 am

    Anyone who says that Dutch food sucks, and excludes the Indonesian-Dutch food, needs to exclude every single “foreign” influence on American food, and when you do that, you end up with, er, English food from the 18th century, which sucks ass.

  118. 118.

    Lupin

    July 30, 2009 at 7:09 am

    I have to say, Dutch breakfasts are (were?) wonderful.

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