Open Thread: Why, Free Republic, Why?
by Latoya Peterson
So here I was, blissfully disconnected from politics for the week, working on upcoming content for September, when Anna from Jezebel emails me this:
The fine Real Americans at the Free Republic have found Obama’s achilles heel: his Long Dark Staff of White Insecurity.
hoosiermama:
The only other thing that hit me was that Sinclair said BO was not circumcised. When my son was born in a hospital that was done as a matter of routine without even consulting us. Would the same be for Hawaii? OTOH People born at home or in some other cultures are not circumcised.thecodont:
A relative of mine was born (in a hospital) a couple of years after BO’s alleged birth date. He was circumcised also (as a matter of routine, not according to any family request). [...]MHGinTN:
You might want to make that call to a Canadian hospital …MHGinTN:
No…it would have been in Kenya….not Canada.
They really want to perform a dick check on the President.
See, I was just going to ignore this, figuring that foolishness of this caliber just could not continue.
But then again, that’s what I thought about the birthers.
Carmen Van Kerckhove is co-founder and president of
Iggles wrote:
Omg! This is disgusting! Why should any care if the prez is uncut or not! This is on a whole ‘nother level of unhealthy obsession. I’ll say it again:
The wingnuts have lost their minds!!!
Posted 25 Aug 2009 at 11:42 am ¶
Deaf Indian Muslim Anarchist wrote:
Ridiculous, pathetic, desperate, despicable scumbags.
Just die already, you Birther morons.
Posted 25 Aug 2009 at 11:46 am ¶
atlasien wrote:
You haven’t heard the rumor about Obama’s secret tail? Or the etheric reptilians in his knees?
Posted 25 Aug 2009 at 11:47 am ¶
Irene M. wrote:
Wait. Wait. I know this info comes from Wikipedia, but according to the WHO 68% of all circumcised men are Muslim. I don’t know if male circumcision is common in Kenya, but if this just a Muslim v. American Christian, what exactly would Obama’s junk prove? The US isn’t the only place that practices routine male cirumcision and not all American men are circumcised so….um….that proves…garsh.
Oh, that’s right. It’s the birthers. They’re not supposed to make any logical sense. Gotcha.
Posted 25 Aug 2009 at 11:58 am ¶
Chris wrote:
I was born in a US military hospital and I’m not circumcised. Isn’t that a matter of choice between the doctors and the child’s parents, and not just a standard procedure given to all newborns?
Or do these “Real Americans” really want to have government mandated circumcision placed upon all male infants born within the United States? Isn’t this the kind of government intervention into healh care that has the anti-Obama crowd in an uproar lately??
All this backwards thinking is making my head spin!
Posted 25 Aug 2009 at 12:24 pm ¶
iamnotstarjones wrote:
I feel bad for these people…their racism has brought all their psychosexual nuttiness to the surface.
I hope they have health insurance to pay for the therapy sessions.
Posted 25 Aug 2009 at 12:42 pm ¶
inkst wrote:
@ atlasien: that link to the reptilian thing is um… …i guess amazing. I couldn’t bring myself to skim more than a paragraph or two. wow. just wow.
All this shit is just a really loud minority right? right? someone please reassure me!
Posted 25 Aug 2009 at 12:50 pm ¶
inkst wrote:
btw that picture at the top of the post is hilarious.
Posted 25 Aug 2009 at 12:51 pm ¶
AJ Plaid wrote:
Riiiiiiiight….since the whole birth-certificate brouhaha was proven to be the BS that it was, now it’s down to looking at the President’s (Black) penis to see if it’s any different than any other man.
On and on and on, these death throes of “the America they know” goes. Ya know that America, where (white) men were men, (white) women were women, and darkies knew their place. ::eyeroll::
Posted 25 Aug 2009 at 12:58 pm ¶
Marcus Kwame wrote:
AJ, you took the words right out of my mouth.
Sadly, I wish I could say that this “Presidential Penis” snippet (pun intended) surprised me, but it is pretty much in line with much of the anti-Obama dialogue. I suppose someone, somewhere has an explanation of how his circumcision or lack thereof impacts his ability to govern, which would make about as much sense as the birthers.
Posted 25 Aug 2009 at 1:16 pm ¶
Sean wrote:
Um, er, well… I was actually expecting the next challenge to be “Was Hawaii REALLY accepted into the Union in 1959?”
What will those silly kids think of next?
Posted 25 Aug 2009 at 1:26 pm ¶
Cindy wrote:
Really? I mean really? The whole birth certificate thing wasn’t stupid enough. Now we need to enter into a discussion about our President’s penis? This is just the kind of inane discussion that comes about against people of color in all sorts of ways…everyday. You can’t impune the man so lets redirect our focus as a diversionary wag the dog tactic. I’m looking forward to the day when I can serve the crow myself to all these stupid people.
Posted 25 Aug 2009 at 1:37 pm ¶
Tracey wrote:
I will now need a very invasive procedure to remove the memory of this post if I am to continue as a functioning human being. I never thought I would say this but……Can we go back to talking about M. Obama’s arms again? Please? As a matter of fact can every non-politically ideological/policy criticism focus on M.Obama’s arms and B.Obama’s supposedly scrawny legs? Because apparently the conversation can sink much,much lower.
Posted 25 Aug 2009 at 1:40 pm ¶
Lynn Gazis-Sax wrote:
But, but … I thought we’d already established that he’s a secret Muslim, and I know that circumcision’s customary in Islam.
Next up: Obama does a remake of the “Where are the white women” scene in Blazing Saddles.
Posted 25 Aug 2009 at 4:27 pm ¶
Lynn Gazis-Sax wrote:
FWIW, something like 10-15% of boys born in the US at around the same time as Obama were not circumcised; hoosiermama doesn’t say anything about telling the hospital in advance she didn’t want a circumcision (and it’s hard to imagine a hospital not allowing that as an option). If we assume that Obama’s Luo family wouldn’t have wanted him circumcised, it would equally make sense that his Luo father might have asked the hospital not to do so, so even if they weren’t, you know, making up the uncut business out of thin air, it wouldn’t prove anything.
Posted 25 Aug 2009 at 4:35 pm ¶
Miles Ellison wrote:
Will circumcision panels be added to the healthcare bill now?
Posted 25 Aug 2009 at 5:54 pm ¶
brownstocking wrote:
I am with Tracey. I need a flippin shower! I wish I could be over outrage, but every time I feel I’ve reached my anger threshold and can’t be further insulted “they keep sucking me back in!”
Posted 25 Aug 2009 at 5:59 pm ¶
not_me wrote:
I can answer this very easily (and for obvious reasons I’m posting under a different name)
Traditionally, Luo’s (Obama’s father was one) don’t circumcise. Kikuyus, (I’m one) circumcise. So it’s a matter of parental preference. Also, traditionally, even for the Kikuyu, you don’t get circumcised until you are in your teens (traditionally, sans anesthetic) while the Luo’s traditionally knock out two molars as teens (also sans anesthetic). It is meant to show one’s strength in the ability to ignore pain and take it like a man.
But nowadays, the circumcision is done in a hospital (I did) under local anesthetic if it is done at all. I won’t circumcise my son (if I have a son).
Anyway, with that out of the way, how ridiculous is it that these crackpots are clutching onto this. What next?
Un-freakin-believable!!
Posted 25 Aug 2009 at 8:41 pm ¶
Evan Carden wrote:
A reminder, as if we needed one, that there really is no bottom to the crazy pool.
Posted 25 Aug 2009 at 9:03 pm ¶
al oof wrote:
ew.
the stupidity of this is staggering. i actually totally understand why they are talking about the president’s penis. they are racists. but that they would actually believe that whether or not someone is circumcised could indicate whether someone was born in the US means they are also incredibly dumb.
Posted 26 Aug 2009 at 12:15 am ¶
jmn wrote:
And here is the greatest interview ever with Orly Taitz, the leader of the birther movement: http://www.collegehumor.com/video:1918686
(yes, I do realize I’m linking to college humor)
Posted 26 Aug 2009 at 5:07 am ¶
Eurasian Sensation wrote:
Wow, they’re really, um, tackling the big issues over there at Free Republic.
Posted 26 Aug 2009 at 11:42 am ¶
Free wrote:
So true AJ Plaid. They hardly recognize the American of their collective childhoods and I am so glad. The future is getting brighter.
Posted 26 Aug 2009 at 2:33 pm ¶
F wrote:
The scariest thing about this is that they’re taking Larry Sinclair seriously.
Posted 27 Aug 2009 at 10:25 pm ¶