Egyptian Military Engineers Anti-Muslim Brotherhood Media Campaign, Sways Public Favor to Intervene in Sit-ins 16AUG13

THE bloodshed continues in Egypt, hundreds have been killed by the Egyptian military, journalist have been attacked, detained, beaten and killed. The American government must cut all aid to the military junta until democracy is restored. We may not like the government that was elected, Pres Morsi and the muslim brotherhood could not be considered friends of the U.S., but that is the government the Egyptian people chose in democratic elections. Concerns about the Suez Canal, the flow of oil, our "war on terror" and Egyptian relations with Israel should have nothing to do with the decision mandated by our laws concerning American aid to nations suffering a coup. It will be another example of the Obama administration's hypocrisy if they fail to stop all aid to the Egyptian junta, and the American people will pay once the the junta is removed from power if we do nothing to support democracy in Egypt. From RNN....

Lina Attalah: Egyptian Ministry of Interior uses light presence of firearms to justify aggressive military action that killed more than 500 peaceful sit-ins, as Saudi and Qatari power dynamics play out behind the scenes -   August 16, 13

Full Episode Egypt Egyptian Military Engineers Anti-Muslim Brotherhood Media Campaign, Sways Public Favor to Intervene in Sit-ins Egyptian Military Creating Conditions for Dictatorship More than 70 Morsi Supporters Killed As Military Clampdown Tightens Semantics of Coup Splits Egyptians & World Leaders Violent clashes rage in Cairo as Brotherhood demands Morsi's reinstatement New Egypt PM & Army Set To Keep Egypt on Neo-Liberal Track Egyptian Military Moves Against Al Jazeera as Journalists Resign Alleging Qatari Influence Over 50 Killed in Egypt As Country Braces for More Violence Violent Clashes Shake Post-Morsi Egypt Egyptian Army Coup Topples President Morsi Egyptian Army Ousts Pres. Morsi From Power In Face Of Popular Protests US & Qatar Play Hidden, Key Role in Possible Morsi Coup Egyptian Army Threatens Coup Against President Morsi Massive Protests Across Egypt Demand President Morsi's Resignation Sexual Harassment of Women is State Sponsored Say Egyptian Women Two Years On, Egyptian Revolution Caught in Violent Past Egypt and the Revolt Against Morsi Arab Spring in 2013 Ola Shahba Testimony Fighting in the streets part 2

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Bio

Lina Attalah is the founder of Mada Masr. She is the former Managing Editor at Egypt Independent (formerly Al-Masry Al-Youm English Edition). Lina studied journalism at the American University in Cairo. Before joining Egypt Independent, she wrote for Reuters, Cairo Times, the Daily Star, and the Christian Science Monitor, among others. In 2005, she worked as radio producer and campaign coordinator with the BBC World Service Trust in Darfur, Sudan. She also worked as project manager for a number of research-based projects with multimedia outputs around the themes of space, mobility, and intellectual history. Lina is particularly drawn to border areas, where human geography issues of conflict and desire are rampant.

Transcript

JESSICA DESVARIEUX, TRNN PRODUCER: Welcome to The Real News Network. I'm Jessica Desvarieux in Baltimore.

The death toll in Egypt has surpassed 500, and it could rise as violence continues between military forces and supporters of ousted Egyptian president Mohamed Morsi. Hundreds of protesters have been killed, along with dozens of security forces, after the military used tear gas and live ammunition to clear two protest encampments housing thousands of members of the Muslim Brotherhood. Take a look at some of these pictures of protesters pushing an armed military vehicle off a bridge. There are some really powerful and tragic images coming out of Egypt, and scenes of thousands waiting for medical care as well. And now reports are emerging that medical facilities treating Muslim Brotherhood supporters are being attacked. The international community has condemned the violence, and the U.S. has canceled a planned joint military exercise with the Egyptian military. But they have refused to cut its $1.3 billion in annual aid to the Egyptian military.

Now joining us to discuss all this is Lina Attalah. Lina is the cofounder of Mada Masr, an Arabic and English online news organization. She's also the former managing editor at Egypt Independent. And she joins us now from Cairo.

Thanks for being with us.

So, Lina, here at The Real News, you know, we try to go beyond the headlines and take a look at what might be happening behind the scenes. There are some saying that this is exactly what the Egyptian military wants, in the sense that they allowed the Muslim Brotherhood to take power after being democratically elected, and they essentially gave them enough rope to hang themselves. They gave them control, allowing them to mismanage the economy, things of that nature. Do you see this as being strategic? Do you see the military actually getting exactly what they want in this situation?

LINA ATTALAH, COFOUNDER, MADA MASR: So, basically I think it's hard to imagine that there was so much orchestration throughout the last couple of years or, you know, year and a half from the side of the military. And this kind of narrative completely removes any incrimination from the Muslim Brotherhood as, you know, the temporary ruling elites or the, you know, short-living ruling elites of Egypt. We have to recognize the fact that there have been a lot of failures from the Brotherhood when they took over. And this is conducive to what we're going through right now. I do believe that there was a point in time when the generals thought that they can basically have some sort of an arrangement with the Brotherhood. I'm sure that there was a point in time when the generals were in agreement with the Brotherhood and there was thinking that this could be a working relationship. And I'm pretty sure that the two sides became at odds when the Brotherhood started to try and control state institutions a lot more on one hand, and on the other, when the military revealed its real interest in being the ultimate institution in control of the state in Egypt. So when those two real ambitions sort of emerged from these two elite institutions, this is when we started having a problem. But thinking from the beginning that this was all orchestrated by the military I think is a little bit far-fetched. We do have to account for the fact that the Brotherhood came to power and had basically no national projects in the shelves to, you know, try to work with it. They were mostly concerned with a power grab. And, you know, this put them at odds with the other institution that is also looking for remaining the most powerful body in the state. So this is what you're looking at, really, a power struggle, a traditional, typical power struggle between two strong parties in the country.

DESVARIEUX: So let's talk about another power struggle that's not really being seen is between Qatar and Saudi Arabia. How is the Qatari-Saudi rivalry being played out in Egypt?

ATTALAH: I mean, it's of course being played out on several levels. There is the funding level. So, for example, the Qataris were much more enthusiastic to support Egypt during the, you know, short-lived rule of Mohamed Morsi, of President Mohamed Morsi, while right now the Saudis have pledged tons of money in the form of loans and grants to the Egyptian government the moment Morsi was ousted. And you could tell that this is the chance for Saudi Arabia to basically, you know, get over what it was--what it was completely concerned about, which is a growing strength of the Muslim Brotherhood around the region. This is a disconcerting phenomenon for the Saudis in the Arab world, and the support that this emerging power getting from Qatar, an ambitious player in the the Gulf area, was also extremely disconcerting for the Saudis. So the Saudis are just feeling that they are perhaps having this moment when they can basically end this Brotherhood phenomenon in the Arab world, which is eventually endangering to its very, you know, status quo. So definitely there is another power struggle on the Gulf level between Qatar and Saudi Arabia that is playing out in the crisis in Egypt right now.

DESVARIEUX: And let's talk about the United States and where they fit into all this, because, like we mentioned, funding, for example, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Qatar, they are having a growing amount of influence and are funding the Egyptian military heavily. And there are reports coming out that it has already surpassed the United States in terms of the amount of aid that is provided to Egypt through Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and those Gulf countries and other Gulf countries. Can you talk a little bit about that? How is this going to affect the power dynamic between the United States, Egypt, and those Gulf nations?

ATTALAH: I think the United States right now is still in an in-between position of having had--just settled its relationship with the Brotherhood as the new ruling elite in Egypt, the kind of elite that basically was proving to be a good replacement to the Mubarak rule, which was also a traditional ally for the Americans for decades. And now this quick turning of the events and end--quick turn of the Brotherhood rule is of course causing confusion to the American administration, which is now at odds with the fact that they have to handle another leadership altogether, particularly a military leadership that they have for long been interested in seeing at the margins of politics, as opposed to being on the forefront of politics. So this is really the essence of the relationship between Egypt and America since the David Accords of 1979, namely that the military institutions should just be on the fringes of politics. Its main function should be to just preserve regional security in Egypt and the region. And the fact that this seems to be changing in a radical way is of course causing troubles for the American administration. So right now I think everyone is grappling with what should the final position be, because we're talking not just here about the relationship between Egypt and the United States, but we're also essentially talking about a long-term relationship between the Americans and the Saudis, which is also geared towards preserving regional security in the Middle East, which is basically the ultimate concern for the American administration and for any American administration. So you're yet to see how all these different parties are going to come to terms with each other [incompr.]. Right now, they do not seem to be necessarily allying with the Saudis supporting the post-Morsi regime and the Americans not being quite clear about their final position, but also hinging on rejecting what they have been--increasingly called a military coup against the Morsi regime. But I'm not expecting this position to stay the same for a long time.

DESVARIEUX: Okay. Let's talk a little bit about the Muslim Brotherhood and their call for just peaceful demonstration. Do you think that they'll stick to this strategy?

ATTALAH: I mean, since yesterday, since this the sit-ins' dispersals, it was hard to really see anything peaceful happening anywhere in the country. All marches, all actions, all protests undertaken by the Brotherhood since the dispersals of the sit-ins, since the forcible dispersals of the sit-ins, have ended up in clashes with residents of the neighborhoods in which they've been marching. But they have also been actively burning police stations. They have been not necessarily just Muslim Brotherhood members, but sympathizers, at least, have been burning churches, particularly outside of Cairo. So betting on peaceful action I think is far-fetched at this point. I did hear repeatedly while covering the dispersal yesterday people from the sit-in calling their fellows in different governorates and telling them not to come to a sit-in anymore, since the sit-in is over, and to just focus on burning the closest police station to them. So it's hard, it's really hard to bet on any peaceful action at this point.

DESVARIEUX: Okay. I'm also trying to get a sense of the mood in the country, because I think it does make a difference to know who was the aggressor in this situation. Obviously, the military, they came out with live ammunition and things of that nature, but the Ministry of Interior is reporting that there were armed protesters, or I should say there were armed people in the camps, in some of the encampments. So can you talk a little bit about that? Do you feel like people are buying that line? Or are there more people now sympathizing with the Muslim Brotherhood supporters?

ATTALAH: I mean, in terms of whether some of the encampments were armed or not, we did do some reporting in the past that proved that there is some weaponry inside the camps, inside the sit-ins. And at the same time, the fact that 43 people died from the ranks of the police is a manifestation of the fact that there has been, you know, some firearms from the side of the protesters during the dispersals of [incompr.] sit-ins. However, to exaggerate this narrative of the armament of the encampments is extremely problematic, because it was clear that what happened yesterday was a typical use of excessive force by both the police and the military to disperse the sit-ins and that there's no way that both parties were equally armed, at least judging, obviously, from the level of the casualties from both ends.

But in terms of a general mood, I do not get a sense that people have sympathized with the Brotherhood more just by the sheer fact that they lost over 500 of their supporters in the course of the few hours during which the sit-ins were dispersed yesterday. And that's mainly due to a state-engineered media campaign to demonize the Brothers, to call them terrorists, to call them armed thugs, which has basically left people with this sense of urge for the state to basically intervene and disperse the sit-ins, whatever it takes, because they are basically terrorists. So there was this huge media campaign that was conducive to very little sympathy from the people towards the Brotherhood, despite the fact that there have been atrocious images from the dispersals yesterday.

DESVARIEUX: Okay. Well, we'll certainly be tracking this story. Lina, thank you so much for joining us.

ATTALAH: Thank you, Jessica. Take care.

DESVARIEUX: And thank you for joining us on The Real News Network.

http://therealnews.com/t2/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=31&Itemid=74&jumival=10585

Wonkbook: This is what it looks like when the Republican budget strategy falls apart 1AUG13

THE repiglican / tea-bagger obstructionist remind me of Egypt's muslim brotherhood. Full of deceptive rhetoric, once in office they are unable to govern, leaving their constituents no better off, and generally worse off than they were before. The only ones to profit from their election are the rich and powerful. This from the Washington Post is on the total failure of the repiglicans and tea-baggers to move their fanatical regressive agenda through Congress. The question is how long those who were duped into electing them are going to tolerate their unproductive antics in Congress? 
Question of the day: Who said this?
“Thus I believe that the House has made its choice: sequestration -- and its unrealistic and ill-conceived discretionary cuts -- must be brought to an end."
Nancy Pelosi? Steny Hoyer? Chris Van Hollen?
Wrong. That was Hal Rogers, the Kentucky Republican who leads the House Appropriations Committee, after the aptly named THUD bill failed on the House floor (notice how I didn’t say it “landed with a thud”, or something similar? You can thank me later.)
“THUD,” in this case, stood for Transportation, Housing and Urban Development. It’s the bill to fund those parts of the government through the next year. The cuts needed to be deep to hit the Ryan budget’s target. Too deep, as it turned out. The bill was pulled off the floor as support collapsed around it.
This is what it looks like when the Republican budget strategy collapses.
THUD’s fall comes days after House Republicans were supposed to release the Labor, Health and Human Services bill, which required cuts 19 percent beneath sequestration’s levels. The bill didn’t materialize.
It comes after House Republicans passed defense and veteran’s appropriations at higher levels than sequestration permitted — necessitating deeper cuts elsewhere.
Meanwhile, in the Senate, Republicans are breaking with Mitch McConnell to back appropriations bills that reach pre-sequestration levels — bills that House Republicans have already dismissed.
Budget politics have an odd rhythm. The budget proposal comes early in the year, and its cuts are vague. It mostly just sets broad targets for different categories of spending. The appropriations bills come later in the year, and that’s where cuts need to get specific.
Republicans endorsed the vague outlines of Ryan’s budget early in the year. But now they’re realizing they can’t pass the documents that make those cuts specific — they’re simply too deep. But they can’t back out of the Ryan budget, either. The result is a mess — although one that may make at least a few Republicans, including Hal Rogers, more eager for a face-saving budget deal in the fall.

Chart: Almost Every Obama Conspiracy Theory Ever 2NOV12

I do not understand how people can believe any of these, but when people get all their news and information from fox "news" and right wing shockjocks on talk radio and racist right wing evangelical Christians and hear this over and over and over from multiple right wing extremist then it actually becomes the truth to them. They loose the ability to think for themselves much like the people of hitler's Germany, of stalin's USSR, of mao's prc, just to name a few. See my earlier post on the gop and right wing media at The Republican Party Needs to Ditch Fox News If It Wants to Win 7NOV12
This from Mother Jones.....

Fake birth certificates, ghostwriters, teleprompters, a teenage trip to Mars, and more of the most paranoid and bizarro Obama conspiracy theories out there.

—By Asawin Suebsaeng and Dave Gilson

Barack Obama's presidency has been an inspiration to many Americans—especially nutjobs. Ever since the first-black-president-to-be appeared on the national political stage, a cottage industry of conservative conspiracy theorists has churned out bizarro, paranoid, and just plain racist effluvia—some of which has trickled into the political mainstream. Below, we've charted some of the Obama-baiters best (i.e., worst) work. (Scroll down for more detailed descriptions of the conspiracy theories in the diagram.)

The Conspiracy Theories

Disclaimer: It should go without saying that none of these are true. Follow links at your own risk.

Obama is a secret Muslim: This one began right after he took the stage at the 2004 Democratic convention, with chain emails alleging his "true" religious affiliation. The rumor soon found its way onto the popular conservative online forum Free Republic, and took on a whole new life in the years to come. Related: Obama secretly speaks Arabic, attended a madrassa as a kid in Indonesia, referred to "my Muslim faith" in an interview, and was sworn in on a Koran. 
Obama's bringing 100 million Muslims to America: Avi Lipkin and his PR outfit Special Guests claimed to have evidence of a scheme to bring roughly 100 million Muslims from the Middle East into the United States, converting the country into an Islamic nation by the end of Obama's second term and making it easier to obliterate Israel.
Obama once aided the mujahideen: Harlem pastor and professional race-baiter James David Manning contended that in his younger days, Obama went undercover as a CIA agent to facilitate the transfer of cash and weapons to the Afghan mujahideen in the '80s, thereby aiding what would become the Taliban.
Obama is in the pocket of the Muslim Brotherhood: Billy Graham's son Franklin wants you to know that Obama is allowing the Muslim Brotherhood to take over the federal government.
Obama redecorated the Oval Office in Middle Eastern style: Driven by his fierce sense of anti-American interior design, Obama got rid of the red, white, and blue decoration scheme in his White House office.
Obama married a Pakistani guy: World Net Daily correspondent and conspiracymonger extraordinaire Jerome Corsi posted a video in which he claimed to have "strong" evidence that Obama was once married to his college roommate from Pakistan. The smoking gun: Photos of the chums in which the future president is "sitting about on the [Pakistani roommate's] lap." Related: For years Obama wore a gold ring on his left hand. Was it his gay-wedding ring?
Obama's ring has a Koranic verse on it: The very same ring is allegedly emblazoned with a key phrase in the Islamic declaration of faith: "There is no god except Allah." (It's not.)
Obama was funded by a Saudi prince: Another fairy tale courtesy of Corsi: In late-'70s Chicago, Obama secured political and academic funding from a variety of sketchy Arab sponsors, including a Saudi prince. Which may explain why President Obama bowed to the Saudi king.
Obama was born in Kenya: In early 2008, fringe theorists began a push to prove Obama was born on foreign soil and was therefore ineligible to live in the White House. The theory gained national attention thanks to the efforts of perennial GOP candidate Alan Keyes, "birther queen" Orly Taitz, and Corsi. Related: Obama's birth certificate is a fake, he killed his grandmother in Hawaii because she knew the truth, sealed access to his birth certificate and other damning documents, and did pretty much everything horrible you could possibly do for the sake of a phony birth certificate.
Obama lost his US citizenship: According to Corsi, Obama became an citizen of Indonesia while he lived there as a child.
Michelle's "whitey" tape: During the 2008 campaign, rumors surfaced that a video of Michelle Obama using the word "whitey" would be released to sink her husband's campaign. It's never materialized. Related: The time Glenn Beck called Barack Obama a racist.
Obama was a Black Panther: Well, only if you're not very good at spotting photoshopped images.
Obama is the son of Malcolm X: Because, you know, black people. This charmer popped up on Atlas Shrugged, Pamela Geller's anti-Muslim website. (Geller is also known for obsessing over Shariah turkeys she believes are destroying Thanksgiving.)
Obama is the son of Frank Marshall Davis: The conspiracy film Dreams From My Real Father espouses the theory that Davis, a leftist activist, was not only Obama's ideological mentor but his biological father. Related: Obama got a nose job to make his nose look less like Davis'.
Obama's mom and dad were communists: And you know that communism is an inherited condition.
Obama's ghostwriter was Bill Ayers: Conservative commentators claimed they uncovered evidence that ex-Weatherman Bill Ayers was the true author of Obama's 1995 memoir Dreams from my Father. Former Republican congressman Chris Cannon of Utah went as far as to try to commission an Oxford professor to confirm Ayers' authorship through computer analysis.
Obama trained to overthrow the government: In 2008, leading Obama conspiracy theorist Andy Martin declared on Fox News' Hannity's America that the then-presidential candidate had trained for "a radical overthrow of the government" during his time as a community organizer in Chicago.
Obama wouldn't say the Pledge of Allegiance: During the '08 campaign, Obama was rumored to have refused to say the pledge during a town hall meeting. A photo of the incident was actually taken while the national anthem was being sung.
Obama removed the flag from Air Force One: …and replaced it with his campaign logo.
Obama ordered soldiers to swear allegiance to him: In April 2009, a clearly satirical report detailing how secretary of defense Robert Gates was growing "extremely frustrated" with the White House's plans to scrub the Constitution from the military oath of loyalty made the rounds on the right-wing blogosphere.
Obama secretly gave away American islands to Russia: Texas House candidate Wes Riddle endorsed this theory and noted the relinquishment as grounds for impeachment. However, the seven Arctic islands were actually given away in 1991 by President George H.W. Bush.
Obama caused the recession—in 1995: According to a recent Daily Caller story, Obama's efforts to force banks to lend to African Americans in the mid-'90s led to the subprime mortgage crisis that killed the economy in 2008.
Obama's youth reeducation camps: Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-Minn.) warned that "young people will be put into mandatory service" at politically correct, billion-dollar camps run by the Democrats.
Obama's coming for your guns: Extreme gun-rights outfits, along with Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.), alleged that the Obama administration is supporting the (nonexistent) United Nations Small Arms Treaty, which would lead to nationwide gun confiscation.
Obama's coming for your gold: This theory was floated by Glenn Beck—and the gold company he shilled for.
Obama is planning FEMA concentration camps: Again with the camps. This theory got a big boost from Glenn Beck (who claims he didn't mean anything by it). Related: An executive order titled, "National Defense Resources Preparedness," was issued in the middle of March 2012. Conservative commentators saw it as a martial law power-grab that allowed the president to commandeer farmland, steal everyone's food, and draft any American into slave labor for a war of aggression against Iran. Also, he has a "secret vault" at Interpol's headquarters for imprisoning Americans. (Chuck Norris is on the case.)
Obama wants to confiscate your IRA: Townhall.com sent out an message ad claiming that Obama wants to seize your retirement account by force.
Obama caused the BP oil spill: Conspiracy-minded radio host Alex Jones promoted the theory that the Deepwater Horizon spill was all part of the administration's plans of oil nationalization and global government.
Obama was behind the Aurora massacre: In July, Gun Owners of America blasted out a press release claiming that the mass murder at a movie theater in Aurora, Colorado, was suspiciously timed. "Someone in Washington" was probably behind it, paving the way for Obama-led firearm confiscation and "government genocide."
Obama personally caused Hurricane Sandy: It wasn’t global warming that made Sandy so intense; it was Barack. Alex Jones' site reported the president engineered the storm using a Pentagon weather modification project. The mayhem caused by the hurricane would afford Obama the opportunity to score points by briskly managing disaster relief a week before the election.
Obama had Andrew Breitbart killed: In March 2012, conservative media impresario Andrew Breitbart died of heart failure. Less than a month prior to his death, he had announced that he had uncovered footage of Obama's formative years as a radical. So obviously, Obama had him offed. (The tapes were later revealed to contain things like a young Obama hugging a black college professor.) Related: People—like a Rod Blagojevich fundraiser and an Obama impersonator—died between 2008 and 2012. Obama was in office between 2008 and 2012…coincidence?!?!
Obama spiked the jobs report: "Jobs truthers" (like former GE CEO Jack Welch and Florida tea party congressman Allen West) accused the Obama administration of cooking the September unemployment numbers to manufacture a rosier picture of the economy and boost the president's chances of reelection.
Obama faked bin Laden's death: Since no photographs of Osama bin Laden's corpse were produced, the Al Qaeda leader must still be out there. Fox News' Steve Doocy and Andrew Napolitano entertained the idea that Operation Neptune Spear was merely a ploy to revive Obama's sagging approval ratings. Related: Obama was photoshopped into the iconic killing-OBL White House photo.
Obama's plan to fake an assassination attempt: A false-flag operation would create urban tumult and give Obama the pretext to declare martial law, thus suspending democracy, postponing the 2012 election, and prolonging his stay in office. The theory was flagged by Tenn. State Rep. Kelly Keisling, among others, after circulating online.

Obama the brainwashing hypnotist: As a master of neurolinguistic programming, Obama convinced Americans to vote for him via subliminal messages. Related: Rush Limbaugh pondered if hypnosis was the reason that so many Jewish voters were in the bag for Obama.
Obama's teleprompter: Obama's eloquence is a myth! The 44th president is incapable of speaking in public with his teleprompter.
Obama had a ghostwriter for everything: Jack Cashill over at WND had a hot scoop on how Obama's love letters to his college girlfriend were ghostwritten.
Obama's anti-Semitic poetry: However, according to the American Thinker, Obama's ghostwriters did not write his youthful poem "Underground," which compares Jews to fig-eating underwater apes and echoes Koranic verse.
Obama's exiled lover: Obama was supposedly fooling around with an attractive young staffer from his 2004 Senate campaign. Michelle Obama had the temptress packed off to the Caribbean before the '08 campaign.
Obama is gay: Which explains why he joined Rev. Jeremiah Wright's church. No, really. (Via Corsi, of course.)
Obama's crack cocaine/gay sex/murder orgy cover-up: In 2008, a small-time conman named Larry Sinclair and his kilt-wearing lawyer held a press conference to tell the world of the future president's murderous, drug-and-sodomy-fueled crimes.
Obama's campaigns were funded by drug money: During an October conference call organized to oppose pot legalization, a writer from Lyndon LaRouche's magazine asked about "reports [that both Obama's] 2008 and 2012 presidential campaigns have been financed in part by laundered drug money."

Obama is the Antichrist: Obviously. Related: If you play his 2008 Democratic nomination acceptance speech backwards, you can hear him instruct listeners to do Satan's bidding.
Obama is a lizard overlord: According to codes hidden in Biblical verse, Obama is a reptilian humanoid. This idea has found its way on to some right-wing radio shows, and two Daily Caller reporters recently published a (satirical?) e-book on the topic titled, The Lizard King: The Shocking Inside Account of Obama's True Intergalactic Ambitions by an Anonymous White House Staffer.
Obama's adventures on Mars: As a teen, Obama participated in a CIA initiative to teleport to Mars using a top-secret "jump room." Self-described time travelers William Stillings and Andrew Basiago claim to have met the future POTUS at American space bases on the Red Planet. In early 2012, a spokesman for the National Security Council actually acknowledged these claims, and issued a fairly convincing denial.
http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2012/10/chart-obama-conspiracy-theories

Sins of the son: Sad treatment for Billy Graham & Franklin Graham's New Obama-Muslim Conspiracy Theory (with video) 8NOV12 & 21MAR11

I believe Ms Quinn is correct, and that franklin graham not only used his father's good name to influence the election he is probably the one who ordered the change on the BGEA website reversing the description of mormonism as a cult. I do not believe Billy Graham would have done either, and I do wonder if he even knows either took place. I still have the highest regard and respect for Billy Graham, I believe he is a true man of God. Be sure to read more about franklin graham's support of right wing politics and conspiracy theories, and watch the video of his newsmax interview in the Mother Jones article following this from the Washington Post.....

By Sally Quinn

On Sunday, two days before the election, a full page advocacy ad in The Washington Post featured a huge picture of the Rev. Billy Graham, along with a signed statement by the world-famous evangelist advising readers to  ”VOTE BIBLICAL VALUES TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 6.”
Of all the sad things that have happened during this year’s seemingly endless, divisive and vitriolic campaign, this ad was the saddest.
It read: “The legacy we leave behind for our children, grandchildren, and this great nation is crucial. As I approach my 94^th birthday, [which was Nov. 7] I realize this election could be my last. I believe it is vitally important that we cast our ballots for candidates who base their decisions on biblical principles and support the nation of Israel. I urge you to vote for those who protect the sanctity of life and support the biblical definition of marriage between a man and a woman. Vote for biblical values this Nov. 6 and pray with me that America will remain one nation under God. “
Billy Graham has been admired as the pastor to presidents and has prided himself on never endorsing any one politician. He is a man of God and ministers  to everyone, becoming more and more accepting and pluralistic as he has has aged.
So how did it happen that he virtually endorsed Mitt Romney the weekend before the election?
On Oct. 11, Billy Graham and his son,  the Rev.Franklin Graham, who is head of the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association,  met with Romney. The photo op and the meeting were seen as a virtual endorsement of Romney at that time.
What was so surprising was that the Billy Graham Evangelical Association Web site at that time considered Mormonism  a “cult.” Graham had once described cult members as those who “reject what Christians have believed for 2,000 years, and substitute instead their own beliefs for the clear teachings of the Bible.”  Shortly after the meeting, that listing disappeared.  According to Ken Barun, the Association’s chief of staff, “we removed the (cult) information from the website because we do not wish to participate in a theological debate about something that has become politicized during this campaign.”
So calling Mormonism a cult is a “theological debate that has become politicized” while the debate over abortion and same sex marriage is not?
I ask this because just last spring the association bought 14 full-page ads in North Carolina newspapers from Billy Graham for North Carolina Amendment 1, recognizing  marriage between a man and a woman as the only legal domestic union. Franklin Graham has made his position on that issue very clear. “It grieves me, “ he said, “that our president would now affirm same sex marriage, though I believe it grieves God even more.”
Franklin  also said in Decision Magazine, “there is no place for compromise or straight forward moral issues such as abortion and same sex marriage.  God has given us clear biblical direction that we must follow and obey. “
Billy Graham has not escaped controversy. He had a very bad moment in 2002 when tapes of conversations from 1973 with Richard Nixon became public. In the tapes, Nixon railed against Jews and Graham responded  that Jews befriended him  but “they don’t know how I really feel about what they are doing to this country.” The rest of the conversation was decidedly anti-Semitic. When the tapes came to light, Graham said he didn’t remember the conversation but apologized profusely.
 Graham also was  rejected by some  fundamentalist Christians as a legitimate evangelical voice when he gave this interview in 1997. “I’ve met people in various parts of the world in tribal situations,” he said. They had never seen a Bible or heard about a Bible, had never heard of Jesus “but they’ve believed in their hearts that there is a God….” In fact , he was accused of being a heretic by many of these fundamentalists for suggesting that Jesus is not the only way to salvation and for his willingness to work with liberals and Catholics.
But Franklin Graham is no Billy Graham. Where Billy Graham has always been a voice for inclusion, even of religions other than his own, Franklin has not. In fact, in April 2010 the Pentagon rescinded an invitation for Franklin to attend their National Day of Prayer service because, after Sept. 11 he had referred to Islam as a “very evil and wicked religion” and said that Muslims are “enslaved” by their own religion.
Franklin has always leaned toward being more political than his father. He owns a house in Alaska and befriended Sarah Palin. He invited Palin to come visit his father in North Carolina. Shortly afterward, his father issued a statement saying that “Sarah and her family will always be welcome in the Graham family home.”
Today, at 94, Billy Graham is feeble, has hearing, vision and other health problems, and uses walkers and wheelchairs. He spends most of his day watching television. He has never been as active in the Association as has Franklin. He is a revered figure around the world, particularly because he has stayed above the fray, never using his religion for political purposes or personal gain. 
I do not believe that Billy Graham would have instigated the ad essentially endorsing Romney. I wouldn’t be surprised if Billy Graham didn’t even know about it.  I think that he is being exploited by his son to further Franklin’s political objectives. I also believe that it is a travesty because it is not the legacy he would have left behind, had it not been for Franklin using his father’s name and taking advantage of his father’s popularity.
Billy Graham was and is a great man. 
Franklin should stop this exploitation now.
On the outcome of the election, the Rev. Gary Hall, the new dean of the National Cathedral, had this to say: “This year’s election has proven to be as divisive as any in recent history, which is all the more reason that we must move through the challenge of political partisanship and come together as Americans.”
I believe that’s what the real Billy Graham would have said.
More on On Faith:
Anne Graham Lotz: Does God hear our cries?
Lisa Miller: A time to compromise    
Compassion in chief: Why Obama won
Figuring Faith: Examining the election results
What lies ahead for the Mormons?
http://www.washingtonpost.com/national/on-faith/sins-of-the-son-sad-treatment-for-billy-graham/2012/11/08/a31f5de2-29f4-11e2-96b6-8e6a7524553f_print.html 

Franklin Graham's New Obama-Muslim Conspiracy Theory

Billy Graham's son says the president has allowed the Muslim Brotherhood to infiltrate the US government.

—By David Corn

| Mon Mar. 21, 2011 11:01 PM PDT

Zuma/Robin Nelson

Yes, there's a new Obama-Muslim conspiracy theory on the right: The evangelical son of one of America's most famous evangelists says that President Barack Obama has allowed the Muslim Brotherhood to become part of the US government and influence administration decisions.
In an interview last week with Newsmax.com, a conservative website (that pushes the Obama-was-born-in-Kenya conspiracy theory), [see clarification at the end of the article] Franklin Graham, an evangelist like his father, Billy Graham, claimed that the fundamentalist Islamic political group has burrowed into the Obama administration and is shaping US foreign policy. Sounding a bit like Glenn Beck, Graham explained:

The Muslim Brotherhood is very strong and active in our country. It's infiltrated every level of our government. Right now we have many of these people that are advising the US military and State Department on how to respond in the Middle East, and it's like asking a fox, like a farmer asking a fox, "How do I protect my henhouse from foxes?" We've brought in Muslims to tell us how to make policy toward Muslim countries. And many of these people we've brought in, I'm afraid, are under the Muslim Brotherhood.

Infiltrated every level of our government—that's quite a claim. Yet Graham did not name a single Muslim Brotherhood infiltrator or cite a specific Obama administration decision that has been manipulated by these crafty behind-the-scenes Islamists. (The quotes in the Newsmax article reporting Graham's remarks differ slightly from what he actually said during his interview with Newsmax, according to the video of the interview, which is posted below.) CLICK to link to the Mother Jones article at the bottom of post to view the video.
Though Graham did not back up his charge that Obama has opened the US government to the Muslim Brotherhood, he did say that he believes the president is more concerned with helping Muslims than Christians—both in the United States and abroad. When the Newsmax interviewer asked Graham if Obama has been doing enough to support Christianity and Christians at home and overseas, Graham replied, "No...If anything, it's the opposite." He added, "The Muslims are protected more in this country than Christians."
Graham did not cite specifics on this point, either. A spokesman said Graham was unable to comment on his remarks to Newsmax since he was en route to Africa.

While Graham did not question Obama's Christian faith during this interview, his comments tracked with the extremist right-wing claim that the president is a secret Muslim. And Graham has raised the matter of an Obama Islamic connection in the past. Last August, he told CNN that because Obama's father had been a Muslim, Obama had a perception "problem." The president's father, who was not involved in Obama's rearing, was born a Muslim, but as an adult he was an atheist. Obama was not raised as a Muslim.
It's no surprise that Franklin Graham is worried about Muslims sneaking into the US government. He has declared Islam "a very evil and wicked religion." Last year, he was disinvited from a National Prayer Breakfast event at the Pentagon after his Islam-bashing became an issue. (Sarah Palin quickly rushed to Graham's rhetorical rescue, pronouncing his excommunication from this ecumenical breakfast a travesty.)
For his part, Graham was not at all apologetic about his attacks on Islam. Instead, he called the revoking of his invitation "a slap at all evangelical Christians." He blamed the White House for orchestrating the move: "I don't know if it's exactly from President Obama. But I'm certain that some of the men around him are very much opposed to what we stand for and what we believe." Graham added, "I just don't understand why the president would be giving Islam a pass." Could it be precisely because the Muslim Brotherhood had infiltrated Obama's circles? Graham didn't say so back then. Perhaps that was before he had discovered this plot.
CLARIFICATION: After this story appeared, Newsmax sent a note taking issue with the article's characterization that it "pushes the Obama-was-born-in-Kenya conspiracy theory." The conservative site says,

Newsmax does not 'push' that Obama was born in Kenya. What Newsmax has written about in the past is that Obama was born in the U.S., but should reveal his birth certificate in order to put the matter to rest. Here is an example: http://www.newsmax.com/Ruddy/Obama-birth-certificate/2009/12/12/id/341849. And in this case, Newsmax columnist Ron Kessler makes it clear that Obama was born in the U.S.: http://www.newsmax.com/RonaldKessler/obama-birth/2008/12/08/id/326987.

Indeed, the site has not championed the Kenya conspiracy; we apologize for the error. But it has generally aligned itself with birthers who suggest there is some sort of conspiracy afoot involving Obama's birth documentation. During the 2008 election, the site ran a piece asking, "Where Was Obama Born?" In 2009, anti-Islam activist Pam Geller wrote a Newsmax article that noted there "might be something more sinister at work here," regarding the president's birth certificate. But the site has not gone Kenya.

David Corn

Washington Bureau Chief

David Corn is Mother Jones' Washington bureau chief. For more of his stories, click here. He's also on Twitter and Facebook. RSS | Twitter

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  http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2011/03/franklin-graham-obama-muslim-brotherhood-conspiracy-theory 

GOVERNMENT IS NOT GOD PAC's newspaper and other ads / e mails filled with falsehoods 27SEP12

THESE are pathetic, not only because they are such  obvious lies targeting the voluntarily ignorant and right wing racist, but also because they are run by right wing christian extremist who make a mockery of Christianity by deliberately lying and promoting hatred, fear and racism through manipulation, deception, and misinformation. In reality these people are as warped and twisted as those islamic extremist who have perverted Islam to justify their violations of that faith, the only difference is government is not god pac wants to impose christian sharia on America. From the govt is not god website "Government Is Not God is a political action committee for social conservatives founded in 1992 by William J. Murray who is currently the chairman of the Religious Freedom Coalition. The mission of Government Is Not God - PAC is the election to Congress of men and women who hold conservative beliefs on both moral and economic issues." IF their beiefs are so moral, and they are moral christians why do they have to lie about their beliefs? From PolitiFact, a compilation of the lies, deceptions, and misinformation being spread by the government is not god pac......

PAC's newspaper ad filled with falsehoods

By Becky Bowers, Jon Greenberg, Angie Drobnic Holan, Louis Jacobson, Molly Moorhead, Katie Sanders
Published on Wednesday, September 26th, 2012 at 7:56 p.m.

Related rulings:

"Barack Hussein Obama will … force doctors to assist homosexuals in buying surrogate babies."

Government is Not God PAC, Sunday, September 23rd, 2012.
Ruling: Pants on Fire! | Details

"Barack Hussein Obama will ... force local authorities to allow Occupy protesters to live in parks."

Government is Not God PAC, Sunday, September 23rd, 2012.
Ruling: Pants on Fire! | Details

"Barack Hussein Obama will ... force Christian schools to hire non-Christian teachers."

Government is Not God PAC, Sunday, September 23rd, 2012.
Ruling: False | Details

"Barack Hussein Obama will .. force Christian organizations to pay for abortions."

Government is Not God PAC, Sunday, September 23rd, 2012.
Ruling: Mostly False | Details

"Barack Hussein Obama will ... force courts to accept Islamic Sharia law in domestic disputes."

Government is Not God PAC, Sunday, September 23rd, 2012.
Ruling: Pants on Fire! | Details

The ad from the Government is Not God PAC ran in newspapers in Florida and Ohio.

Updated Sept. 27, 2012
A full-page newspaper ad running in swing states purports to reveal "the true agenda of Barack Hussein Obama." It says he will:

"Force Christian organizations to pay for abortions."

"Force employers to give illegal immigrants the jobs of U.S. citizens."

"Force police agencies to allow Muslim brotherhood to select staff."

" Force creation of a permanent government funded ‘underclass.’ "

It’s from a political action committee that operates under the name "Government is Not God," or GING-PAC for short. The group claims the ad has run in 19 newspapers in Florida, Ohio, Iowa and Pennsylvania.

Compared with other outside spending groups, GING-PAC is a relatively small player. It started in 1994 and has spent less than $100,000 in most elections, supporting Republicans such as House Majority Leader Eric Cantor, Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida, former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum and Missouri U.S. Rep. Todd Akin. (Akin is the Senate candidate who said women rarely get pregnant from "legitimate rape.")

The group’s latest ad found its largest audience when it ran in the Sarasota Herald-Tribune on Sunday. The Herald-Tribune, citing policy, would not disclose the ad’s cost. The ad has also reportedly run in Florida newspapers that serve Bonifay, Cross City, Gilchrist, Madison and Winter Haven.

The ad’s claims riled some voters in Sarasota, including Kindra Muntz, an activist who previously worked to get Florida’s electronic voting replaced with paper ballots. She’s organizing a protest in front of the newspaper’s offices Sept. 27, 2012.

"It’s an insult to people’s intelligence, really. ... It steps on just about everyone, and drags them into somebody’s hate agenda," Muntz said.

On Wednesday, the Herald-Tribune apologized in a note to readers, stating that the ad did not meet the newspaper’s "standards for fairness and accuracy."

Here at PolitiFact, we wondered if the ad’s claims had any merit. We looked into them, except one that was too vague to analyze, that Obama would "force creation of a permanent government funded 'underclass.'" All the ratings are here; some we've also expanded into separate fact-checks.

We contacted GING-PAC and asked for evidence for the group’s claims. William J. Murray said the group didn’t need evidence because it was making predictions.

"If a politician is willing to walk you halfway to hell, it is likely that he will walk you the rest of the way there," Murray said via email.

The ad's claims are not couched as predictions, however, but as representations of Obama's actual policies and proposals. We've fact-checked their points by comparing them with Obama's previous positions, his proposals for a second term, and his public comments.

"Force police agencies to allow Muslim brotherhood to select staff"

We found nothing in Obama’s stated policies or positions to support this claim. Still, we ran it by Phil Lynn, director of the National Law Enforcement Policy Center, a division of the International Association of Chiefs of Police. He said he’d never heard of the claim, and that most states and local agencies have boards that control hiring and firing decisions.

"Trying to force this on local jurisdictions would be irregular and out of place," Lynn said. "I would think many states would balk at it."

Such an idea is not only unconstitutional, it’s also ridiculous, said Howard Simon, executive director of the ACLU of Florida.

"It just doesn’t make any sense," said Howard Simon. "It’s incoherent that a police agency would give an outside group the power to pick its own staff."

We found no evidence that Obama’s ever mentioned anything like this. We rate this statement Pants on Fire.
"Force doctors to assist homosexuals in buying surrogate babies"

Experts who follow issues involving same-sex couples and parenthood were perplexed by this one. "We have no idea what this claim is based on," said Eleanor Nicoll, public affairs manager for the American Society for Reproductive Medicine.

Plus, buying babies is illegal. We rate this one Pants on Fire.
"Force employers to give illegal immigrants the jobs of U.S. citizens"
This is a preposterous claim that, in one interpretation, suggests that Obama wants to deny jobs to U.S. citizens and give them to illegal immigrants. We’re not sure how that would even work. Would employers be forced to seek out illegal immigrants, verify their legal status, hire them and then confirm that they took the jobs of legal citizens?

If anything, the Obama administration’s record shows an increasingly tougher stance on the hiring of unauthorized workers. The number of employers hit with penalties rose more than 20-fold, from 18 in 2008 to 385 in 2011. In the same period, total fines increased from $675,000 to $9.2 million. Use of the electronic employee verification system, E-Verify, quadrupled, from 88,000 employers in 2008 to 354,000 in 2012.

GING-PAC points to the president’s executive order to defer deportation of illegal immigrants under 30 who have no criminal record, have graduated or are in school and have lived in the country for more than five years. The Pew Hispanic Center estimates that 700,000 18 to 30-year-olds might be immediately eligible and could apply for the two-year work permits. Over time, the number would rise to 1.7 million. Bob Dane with the Federation for American Immigration Reform, a group that favors stronger immigration controls, said this could put these people in competition for jobs.

"The people will still be illegal," Dane said. "And they would be taking a job from a U.S. citizen."

Things could go that way. But there’s still nothing forcing employers to hire anyone except who they want. We rate this claim Pants on Fire.
"Force states to pay the college tuition of illegal immigrants' children"

This claim conflates several issues related to immigration. To begin with, children of illegal immigrants born in the United States are citizens. A federal court recently overturned a Florida law that denied in-state tuition to the citizen children of illegal immigrants who were Florida residents. Immigration experts said the federal government couldn’t force states to pay college tuition for immigrants -- or for any other students, for that matter. We rate this claim False.

"Force all states to permit same-sex 'marriages' "

The ad’s basis for this is the president’s opposition to the Defense of Marriage Act, the federal law that defines marriage as between a man and woman.

Is opposing the law the same thing as wanting to force all states to permit same-sex marriages? Not according to Obama. "I continue to believe that this is an issue that is gonna be worked out at the local level, because historically, this has not been a federal issue," he said in a May interview, adding, "I think it is a mistake to try to make what has traditionally been a state issue into a national issue."

Even if Obama changed his mind, he would have to introduce legislation in Congress to require states to recognize gay marriages. And even if that passed, it would likely be unconstitutional, according to Dale Carpenter, a civil rights professor at the University of Minnesota. "The court has explicitly said that family law is a matter for states to decide," he said. We rate the ad’s claim False.

"Force Christian organizations to pay for abortions"

Under the 2010 health care law, Christian organizations won’t be "forced" to hand over money for abortion procedures performed at clinics by doctors. But the law does expand coverage requirements for preventive care. And preventive care, as defined by the Obama administration, includes birth control, emergency contraceptives and sterilization -- and some people equate those services with abortion.

The administration created an exemption for religious organizations by requiring insurance companies to pay for those services. But anti-abortion groups say the exemption is just a shell game.
 
That controversy is real, but the ad’s claim creates a misleading impression. We rate the claim Mostly False.

"Force Christian schools to hire non-Christian teachers"

The only basis for this claim is a 2012 Supreme Court decision involving a teacher who said she  lost her job in violation of the Americans with Disabilities Act. She sued to get her job at a private Christian school back. The federal government supported her case, but the court unanimously ruled against her on First Amendment grounds.

The case, Hosanna-Tabor Evangelical Lutheran Church and School vs. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, did address the proper balance between the government and religious institutions in personnel decisions at schools. But even participants in the case say it had nothing to do with ordering schools to hire people. We rate this claim False.

"Force courts to accept Islamic Sharia Law in domestic disputes"

There have been isolated instances when U.S. courts have used sharia law. But we couldn’t find any instances of the Obama administration supporting that.

On top of that, the notion would violate the separation of powers, said Glenn Hendrix, an Atlanta-based attorney and past chair of the American Bar Association’s section on International Law. Hendrix said there’s no substance to the ad’s claim.

"Even if the administration were somehow pushing sharia law -- and of course it’s not -- the executive branch cannot force courts to accept any particular law," Hendrix said.

We rate the statement Pants on Fire.

"Force local authorities to allow Occupy protesters to live in parks"

Occupy Wall Street is a loosely organized movement that draws attention to income inequality. In 2011, it set up camp in New York City’s Zuccotti Park and then spread to other cities.

Protesters have a First Amendment right to peaceably assemble, but local governments are generally allowed to enforce time and place restrictions on those gatherings. A 1984 Supreme Court opinion said governments may outlaw sleeping in parks, even during protests.

We couldn’t find any evidence that Obama or his administration opposed existing law on this point. Also, a president can’t overturn a Supreme Court decision anyway. We rate this claim Pants on Fire.

Obama is "the only President in history who has deliberately removed the words 'endowed by their Creator' when referring to our Declaration of Independence, not once, but several times"

The ad ends with a tagline accusing Obama of taking some godless liberties with the language in the Declaration of Independence. And indeed, we did find video of him paraphrasing that famous line, leaving out the "creator." Several conservative websites appear to be tracking his omissions.

But there’s also video evidence of him saying those words -- the blog of the liberal group People for the American Way even put together a compilation video of Obama reciting the "endowed by their creator" language. And the site UrbandLegends.com dug up examples of other presidents paraphrasing the Declaration and omitting the "creator." Which presidents, you ask? Calvin Coolidge, Dwight Eisenhower and Ronald Reagan.
We rate the statement False.
"Force military chaplains to perform same-sex 'marriages' "

To back up this one, Murray sent us links to articles from conservative news sites the Blaze and Breitbart.com.

The evidence? The White House’s Office of Management and Budget had opposed part of a defense bill that would, according to the Blaze, "protect military chaplains who refuse to perform gay marriage ceremonies against their religious beliefs." Seemed like pretty good evidence that the alternative might be true: in the White House’s preferred world, military chaplains wouldn’t be able to refuse!

The reality? The Defense Department already protects chaplains from performing ceremonies that contradict their religious beliefs. The defense bill provision (which didn’t pass) was much broader — which is why the White House opposed it. Meanwhile, a group that advocates for gay and lesbian service members hasn’t heard any inkling that the president would want to force chaplains to perform same-sex marriages.

"If that were true, it'd be absurd," said David McKean, legal director for the Servicemembers Legal Defense Network.

We rate the claim Pants on Fire.
http://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/article/2012/sep/26/pacs-newspaper-ad-filled-falsehoods/