The Candid Blogger: October 2009

Thursday, October 29, 2009

Judge Carter Dismisses Orly Taitz Case

Just as expected, Judge David Carter has dismissed the case of Barnett, Keyes, et al v. Obama. Here are just a few of his comments:

"Plaintiffs’ arguments through Taitz have generally failed to aid the Court. Instead, Plaintiffs’ counsel has favored rhetoric seeking to arouse the emotions and prejudices of her followers rather than the language of a lawyer seeking to present arguments through cogent legal reasoning...

"This Court exercised extreme patience when Taitz endangered this case being heard at all...

"Taitz also continually refused to comply with court rules and procedure.

"Taitz encouraged her supporters to contact this Court, both via letters and phone calls. It was improper and unethical for her as an attorney to encourage her supporters to attempt to influence this Court's decision.

"Additionally, the Court has received several sworn affidavits that Taitz asked potential witnesses that she planned to call before this Court to perjure themselves. This Court is deeply concerned that Taitz may have suborned perjury through witnesses she intended to bring before this Court."

"Plaintiffs have encouraged the Court to ignore these mandates of the Constitution; to disregard the limits on its power put in place by the Constitution ... Plaintiffs have attacked the judiciary, including every prior court that has dismissed their claim, as unpatriotic and even treasonous for refusing to grant their requests and for adhering to the terms of the Constitution which set forth its jurisdiction. Respecting the constitutional role and jurisdiction of this Court is not unpatriotic. Quite the contrary, this Court considers commitment to that constitutional role to be the ultimate reflection of patriotism."

CLICK HERE TO READ THE COMPLETE ORDER: CARTER DISMISSES CASE

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Saturday, October 24, 2009

Public Option Annie Serenades Anti-Healthcare Convention

AHIP is the powerful insurance lobby that spends 5 million dollars a week trying to kill health care reform. Billionaires for Wealthcare is a grassroots network looking to stop them - with song.

• AHIP and other insurance and HMO interests spend nearly $5 million per week undermining real health care reform, including a public option.

• AHIP has resorted to out-right lying and scare tactics to block health care reform. They sent letters that lie to seniors about what health care reform means for Medicare, and they issued a report on the costs of health care reform legislation that is so misleading even the reports embarrassed authors distanced themselves from the way AHIP used their work.

• Every year, 45,000 people die because they cant get access to the health care they need. Yet AHIP continues to stand in the way of health care reform that would provide coverage to millions of Americans because the industry is more concerned with protecting profits than saving lives.

Lyrics to "Public Option Annie"

(to the tune of "Tomorrow" from Annie)

SINGER #1

No, thank you!

FOR KILLING THE PUBLIC OPTION

AND BLOCKING ANY HOPES OF ITS ADOPTION

THANK YOU, SIR!

SINGER #2
Sure,

BUT WHAT ABOUT COMPETITION?

IT'S AN OLD AMERICAN TRADITION

OR SO I'VE HEARD?

SINGER #1
Meh.

SINGER #3

WHEN OLYMPIA SNOWE

SAID NO,

IT CROAKED

Right?

SINGER #2

NO, THE OPTION'S NOT DEAD

SINGER #3

OR RED!

SINGER #1

EXPLAIN!

Who let these hippies in here?

SINGERS #2 AND #3, and CHORUS MEMBERS

IF WE GET A PUB-

LIC OPTION

WE CAN SNIFF OUT WASTE

JUST LIKE A DACHSUND

COSTS COME DOWN!

SINGER #1

Hey, those "costs" are my profits!

SINGERS #2 AND #3, and CHORUS MEMBERS

THE OPTION

THE OPTION

THE PUBLIC WANTS OPTIONS

WITHOUT IT,

IT'S A GIVEAWAY

SINGER #1

Exactly. To us. Am I in the right room?

THE OPTION

THE OPTION

THE PUBLIC WANTS AN OPTION

SINGERS #2 AND #3, and CHORUS MEMBERS

OR REFORM IS A CORP'RATE GIVE-A-WAY!

SINGER #1

Well, I've heard enough - my helicopter is parked in a handicap space.

.BILLIONAIRES FOR WEALTHCARE

FOX NEWS Vendetta Against Obama Exposed

ANYTHING BUT FAIR AND BALANCED

FOX NEWS would like everyone to believe that they are the only media outlet whose "news" broadcasts are Fair and Balanced. Rather than submit a written argument to disprove this claim, we find it much more easy to present video evidence to you of a long-standing vendetta that this so-called news station has conducted against President Barack Obama. These attacks are a clear indication of a planned and vicious campaign to discredit him and to tear down his administration.

With "news people" like Hannity, Beck and O'Reilly, it is ludicrous for anyone to claim that this media outlet is a news agency. FOX manufactures and creates news, then reports on it. They are a bad joke on America.

Friday, October 23, 2009

The Orangutan and the Hound

After the negativity surrounding Orly Taitz and the birthers, I thought it appropriate to lighten the mood with this post. Enjoy:

The Orly Taitz Circus Continues

Orly Taitz in Wonderland with her Staff

Now that Orly Taitz has ignored Judge Clay Land's Order for a $20,000 sanction, Orly Taitz is taking her appeal to the 11th Circuit in Atlanta. Taitz represents soldiers who are fighting deployment on the basis of their belief that the Commander-in-chief is not eligible to serve.

Judge Clay Land has called her filings frivolous and sanctioned her twice. The most recent sanction was $20,000.

In her court filing, Taitz accused Judge Land of “ completely ignoring ninety percent of the argument and facts, making extremely rude and demeaning remarks, showing bias; taken together, appear to be designed to silence her and, intimidate her.“

Now, the case gets even more intriguing. Ms. Taitz was planning to call a man named Lucas Smith to testify on behalf of her client in a case she filed in Orange County this is awaiting a decision by Judge David Carter on the motion of the Defendants to Dismiss the Case. Mr. Smith, however, paints a picture of Ms. Taitz not paying attention to details, sleeping with her disbarred attorney legal assistant, Charles Lincoln III, and attempting to get both Mr. Smith and another witness to make up stories and lie to the court under oath. Here is the complete Declaration of Lucas Daniel Smith. You can click to download it. It was just filed with the Court.

Among the charges her witness levels at Ms. Taitz is that she and her husband are independently wealthy, but that she will not pay her staff or help, yet buys expensive meals with donations from her supporters. Ms. Taitz also reportedly asked Mr. Lucas to lie to the court and say that Mr. Obama had tried to have him killed upon exiting a recent meeting at the Court.

Another interesting tidbit is that Mr. Smith says that Ms. Taitz told him that she had obtained the earlier phony Kenyan Birth Certificate on Obama from the Mossad. Mr. Smith also reports that Ms. Taitz is unable to comprehend details and that her attention span is like that of a small child...perhaps 15 minutes.

It gets curiouser and curiouser...

Thursday, October 22, 2009

Medicare for Everybody - Medicare Part E

THE BEST PUBLIC OPTION

Party of No Says YES to Rape

These 31 Republican Senators voted AGAINST a bill introduced by Al Franken called the "Anti-Rape Bill". Republicans have done everything they can to prevent President Obama from passing a sweeping healthcare reform bill. Now, they are doing everything they can to protect the financial interests of private contractors such as Blackwater and Halliburton by protecting them from ever having to defend against charges such as rape of their own employees. WOMEN OF AMERICA remember these men.

Jeff Sessions (R-AL)	Richard Shelby (R-AL)	Jon Kyl (R-AZ)
Johnny Isakson (R-GA)	Mike Crapo (R-ID)	James Risch (R-ID)
Jim Bunning (R-KY)	Mitch McConnell (R-KY)	David Vitter (R-LA)
Kit Bond (R-MO)	Mike Johanns (R-NE)	John Ensign (R-NV)
Tom Coburn (R-OK)	Jim Inhofe (R-OK)	Jim DeMint (R-SC)
Lamar Alexander (R-TN)	Bob Corker (R-TN)	John Cornyn (R-TX)	)

John McCain (R) AZ Saxby Chambliss (R-GA) Sam Brownback (R-KS)

Pat Roberts (R-KS) Thad Cochran (R-MS) Roger Wicker (R-MS)

Judd Gregg (R-NH) Richard Burr (R-NC) Lindsey Graham (R-SC)

John Thune (R-SD) John Barrasso(R-WY) Mike Enzi(R-WY

Wednesday, October 21, 2009

Birther Wingnut Orly Taitz Defies Sanction, Files Appeal

Orly Taitz

Birther wingnut Attorney/Dentist/Realtor Orly Taitz has attacked Judge Clay Land's $20,000 sanction as "political lynching" and filed an appeal. She says she will not pay the fine and Judge Land has indicated she has 30 days in which to comply or the Attorney General will begin collection proceedings against her. In her appeal, she accuses the very patient Judge Land of "pervasively extreme and outrageous prejudice and bias" against her. She just doesn't seem to get it.

Her complete filing is available at Talking Points Memo: ORLY TAITZ APPEAL.

A formal complaint has already been filed with the California State Bar Association and Ms. Taitz' continued disrespect of the Court and her lack of integrity in dealing with the Court will surely result in her disbarment. It can't happen too soon as her fifteen minutes of fame have lasted a bit too long.

Pelosi's Strong Public Option Reduces Deficit

Public Option is Cost Effective, Reduces Deficit

A preliminary analysis from CBO may have sealed the deal. Speaker Nancy Pelosi is preparing to move ahead with a "robust" public option--one that reimburses hospitals and providers at Medicare rates, plus five percent--in the House's health care bill. She is briefing her caucus about the plan's savings tonight, and, pending the approval of a sufficient majority of members, will adopt the measure as part of the complete reform package.

A preliminary estimate from the Congressional Budget Office projects that the House Democrats' health care plan that includes a public option would cost $871 billion over 10 years, according to two Democratic sources. CBO also found that the Democrats' bill reduces the deficit in the first 10 years. analysis finds the reconstituted House proposal to be deficit neutral, and require less than $900 billion in new spending, over ten years.

The bill remains nominally more expensive than the Senate Finance Committee proposal, but would cover 96 percent of all Americans, providing greater bang for each federal dollar spent. And, aides note, the bill that comes to the floor of the Senate will be a hybrid of the Finance and more expensive HELP Committee bills, so the price is expected to rise.

The move is sure to make progressives ecstatic, and puts Senate leaders, who have been unable to reach any decisions about their preferences for a public option in their own bill, in an uncomfortable position. Senior Democratic aides told CNN that House Democratic leaders are likely to put this version of the public option favored by liberal Democrats in the final bill they are drafting. While no final decision has been made, on Tuesday night Speaker Pelosi made the case to House Democrats that this approach saves the most money and would put the House in a better negotiating position when it comes time to negotiate a final health care bill with the Senate.

sources: CNN, TPM

Monday, October 19, 2009

Judge Land's Order Sanctions Birther Queen Orly Taitz

Judge Clay land pulled no punches in his Order for Sactions in the amount of $20,000 vs. Birther Wingnut Orly Taitz. Here is a small portion of his Order:

The Court finds that counsel’s conduct was willful and not merely
negligent. It demonstrates bad faith on her part. As an attorney,
she is deemed to have known better. She owed a duty to follow the
rules and to respect the Court. Counsel’s pattern of conduct
conclusively establishes that she did not mistakenly violate a
provision of law. She knowingly violated Rule 11. Her response to
the Court’s show cause order is breathtaking in its arrogance and
borders on delusional. She expresses no contrition or regret
regarding her misconduct. To the contrary, she continues her baseless
attacks on the Court. Defiantly defending the “position of the
patriots,” she scoffs at the notion that a federal court would

consider sanctioning her when she is on the side of such freedom
fighters as the late Justice Thurgood Marshall, a comparison that, if
accepted, would disgrace Justice Marshall’s singular achievements.
Counsel’s bad faith warrants a substantial sanction.
Counsel’s misconduct was not an isolated event; it was part of
a pattern that advanced frivolous arguments and disrespectful personal attacks on the parties and the Court. This pattern infected theentire proceeding, not just an isolated pleading. Her initial

Complaint was legally frivolous. Upon being so informed, counsel
followed it with a frivolous motion for reconsideration. In response
to the Court’s show cause order, she filed a frivolous motion to
recuse. In all of counsel’s frivolous filings, she hurled personal
insults at the parties and the Court. Rather than assert legitimate
legal arguments, counsel chose to accuse the Court of treason and of
being controlled by the “Obama Machine.” She had no facts to support
her claims–but her diatribe would play well to her choir. This
pattern of conduct reveals that it will be difficult to get counsel’s
attention. A significant sanction is necessary to deter such conduct.
Whether Ms. Taitz had the subjective purpose to cause injury
through her conduct cannot be easily ascertained. It is clear to the
Court, however, that objectively her actions demonstrate an attempt
by her to smear the Court and the judiciary because she did not
prevail. She accused the Court of treason based upon its dismissal
of her case. She maintained that the district courts in the Eleventh
Circuit must be controlled by the vast “Obama conspiracy” because

otherwise she would have prevailed on her claim. She suggested that
the Court violated the Code of Judicial Conduct by engaging in ex
parte communications when she had no evidence to support the
suggestion and when the credible evidence undisputably refuted the
suggestion. She frivolously asserted that the Court had a financial
interest in the litigation, posting the web site for the undersigned’s
financial disclosure reports in her briefing, for no reason other than
to advance a false assertion. Counsel’s smear attempts were not
limited to the Court; she appears to relish calling the President
names that added nothing to her legal arguments. The Court concludes
from this conduct that counsel did have an intent to injure anyone
associated with the litigation who did not agree with her.

Judge Land finished his order with: " While the Court derives no pleasure from its imposition of sanctions upon counsel Orly Taitz, it likewise has no reservations about the necessity of doing so. A clearer case could not exist; a weaker message would not suffice."

CLICK HERE to read complete order.

Saturday, October 17, 2009

Obama Takes the Gloves Off

President Obama mounted a frontal assault on the insurance industry on Saturday, accusing it of airing “deceptive and dishonest ads” to derail his health care legislation and threatening to strip the industry of its longstanding exemption from federal anti-trust laws.

In unusually harsh terms, Mr. Obama cast insurance companies as obstacles to change interested only in preserving their own “profits and bonuses” and willing to “bend the truth or break it” to stop his drive to remake the nation’s health care system. The president used his weekly radio and Internet address to push back against industry assertions that legislation will drive up premiums.

“It’s smoke and mirrors,” Mr. Obama said. “It’s bogus. And it’s all too familiar. Every time we get close to passing reform, the insurance companies produce these phony studies as a prescription and say, ‘Take one of these, and call us in a decade.’ Well, not this time.”

Rather than trying to curb costs and help patients, he said the industry is busy “figuring out how to avoid covering people. And they’re earning these profits and bonuses while enjoying a privileged exemption from our anti-trust laws, a matter that Congress is rightfully reviewing.”

Mr. Obama’s sharp attack comes as the health care debate moves out of congressional committees to the wider stage of floor debates in the Senate and House. While he has criticized insurers before, his bare-knuckled language on Saturday reflected a more open break with the industry and recognition that his efforts to bring it into some sort of consensus had failed.

FOR COMPLETE STORY: NEW YORK TIMES

Watch Obama's Weekly Address:

Friday, October 16, 2009

High School Teacher Recalls Day Obama was Born...in Hawaii

While conducting some research to debunk a birther post on a forum, I came across a very definitive article about Barack Obama's high school Literature teacher at Punahou High School. Her instruction included British, Biblical, and Middle Eastern Literature. This article was written prior to his taking office and is not something recently written to stave off the senseless ranting of the right wing.

This lady remembers the day he was born, in which hospital, she wrote down his unique name and discussed it with her father and the physician who delivered him, Dr. West. She later became his teacher.

When Barack Hussein Obama places his hand on the Bible today to take the oath of office as 44th president of the United States, Barbara Nelson of Kenmore will undoubtedly think back to the day he was born. It was Aug. 4, 1961, at Kapi’olani Medical Center for Women & Children in Honolulu.

“I may be the only person left who specifically remembers his birth. His parents are gone, his grandmother is gone, the obstetrician who delivered him is gone,” said Nelson, referring to Dr. Rodney T. West, who died in February at the age of 98. Here’s the story: Nelson was having dinner at the Outrigger Canoe Club on Waikiki Beach with Dr. West, the father of her college friend, Jo-Anne. Making conversation, Nelson turned to Dr. West and said: “‘So, tell me something interesting that happened this week,’” she recalls.

His response: “Well, today, Stanley had a baby. Now that’s something to write home about.”

The new mother was Stanley (later referred to by her middle name of Ann) Dunham, and the baby was Barack Hussein Obama.

“I penned the name on a napkin, and I did write home about it,” said Nelson, knowing that her father, Stanley A. Czurles, director of the Art Education Department at Buffalo State College, would be interested in the “Stanley” connection.

She also remembers Dr. West mentioning that the baby’s father was the first black student at the University of Hawaii and how taken he was by the baby’s name.

To read the entire article, BUFFALO NEWS
By Paula Voell

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