Alan Keyes

• Jim Burroway @ Box Turtle Bulletin: Prop 8 Report: The “Danger To Children” Theme Proved Decisive.
• Amanda Marcotte @ RH Reality Check: "Freedom:" The Right of Religious Fundamentalists to Discriminate Against Everyone Else.
• Sam Stein @ Huffington Post: Henry Hudson, Judge In Health Care Lawsuit, Has Financial Ties To Attorney General Bringing The Case.
• Andrea Nill @ Wonk Room: Lou Dobbs Defends The 14th Amendment And ‘Birthright Citizenship’.
• Towleroad: Rachel Maddow on FRC's Anger Over Amtrak's Gay Ads.
• Crooks and Liars: Rep. Inglis: GOP is a Party of Demagogues and Extremists.
• Jason Hancock @ Iowa Independent: Iowa activist compares gay marriage to Toyota recall, salmonella.
• John Aravosis @ Americablog Gay: Dissecting a Family Research Council lie.
• Steve Benen: Sharron Angle Said What?
• Evan McMorris-Santoro @ TPM: Alan Keyes Coming To Tea Party Express' Rescue To Prove It's Not Racist.

Last week, I saw a press release from Personhood Colorado announcing that they were going to be holding a press conference on Monday featuring Alan Keyes at which the organization would announce their campaign strategy and release their first radio ad.

At the time I didn't pay much attention to it because this is a fringe effort that doesn't have much support even from anti-choice groups.  In fact, the last time a "personhood" amendment was on the ballot in Colorado, it received a measly 27% support.

But now I wish that I had paid more attention, becuase supporters are trying to get it passed again this year and brought in Keyes to help them unveil their new radio ad yesterday which uses a fictitious slave to compare the fight against abortion to the fight against slavery:  

Backers of a ballot initiative asking Colorado voters to essentially ban abortion in the state announced their campaign strategy yesterday, a strategy that includes comparing fetuses to slaves.

Members of Personhood Colorado unveiled their first campaign advertisement at a news conference at the Capitol. The radio ad, which will be aired in the coming days, compares the rights of fetuses to American slaves.

It features a fictitious slave by the name of George Stevens who says he fought to end the practice of declaring people as property.

“I fought so all slaves would be recognized as persons, not property, and we won,” says Stevens in the radio spot, as patriotic war music plays in the background. “But today in Colorado there are still people called property - children - just like I was. And that America you thought you wouldn’t recognize is all around you, and these children are being killed.”

The ad asks voters this November to vote “yes” on Amendment 62 because the measure declares unborn children persons, not property.

“And that’s the America I fought for,” concludes the ad.

UPDATE: You can hear the ad here.

We've written about James David Manning, pastor of Atlah World Missionary Church, once or twice before noting that even by the standards of the Birther movement, Manning is completely off the deep end:

Manning came to public attention in the 2008 presidential election after ATLAH posted several sermons of his that were harshly critical of Democratic candidate Barack Obama on the website YouTube. Among other accusations, he called Obama a "good House Negro" in one sermon while in another he referred to Obama as "trash" due to circumstances surrounding his mixed race heritage and accused him of being a "pimp" (pimping "white women and black women") and "long-legged mack daddy," and an "emissary of the devil", citing the viral video "I Got a Crush... on Obama". He stated that Obama "has the cadence of an Islamic person,"and he called Obama's mother "trash" for becoming pregnant by a black man out of wedlock. Manning revisited this latter issue during a press conference at the National Press Club on 8 December 2008: "Generally the most noble of white society choose not to intercourse sexually with African men. So it's usually the trashier ones who make their determinations that they're going to have sex."

Manning defended his sermons in an interview on Fox News, saying that "we also have to talk about his character."He compared TV personality Oprah Winfrey, who supported Obama's campaign, to the Whore of Babylon, the "Queen of the Universe", and an Antichrist.

For the last several days, Manning and his supporters have been hosting a "trial" of President Obama [PDF], claiming that he never attended Columbia University but was actually a CIA agenda who used it as cover so he could go to Pakistan to provide money, weapons, and logistics to the Mujahideen:

The only reason I even found out about this is because I came across an interview with one of the participants discussing how Alan Keyes was supposed to participate but then backed out because of his fears that his own Birther lawsuits could be compromised by attending. 

And that is not even the craziest part.  Just try and follow this exchange between Sharon Rondeau, the interviewer, and Miki Booth, who is running for the U.S. House seat in Oklahoma:

SHARON: Do you know how Dr. Manning or any of the witnesses prove that Obama did not attend Columbia? Can he actually prove that he was in Pakistan or wherever he was instead of at Columbia?

MIKI: I don’t know how we prove it, but the only thing that makes sense is that it’s all the CIA. That would explain why all the records are scrubbed. There’s one thing that they can’t hide, and that’s the Social Security numbers. Again, how do you prove that he used those to launder money?

SHARON: Is the theory that the CIA gave Obama a new identity?

MIKI: Absolutely.

SHARON: Did they actually assign him all of these social security numbers, or do you think he did that on his own?

MIKI: Again, if the CIA was behind it, they would be involved in every single aspect of it, because the money that he was getting went to help the Mujahadeen fight the Russian invasion. Here’s another really interesting thing: the story is out there that he attended Patrice Lamumba University. About three weeks ago, I finally found the website for Patrice Lamumba, and it said, “Distinguished Alumni,” and on the list was “Barry Soetoro.”

SHARON: Really?

MIKI: Yes. And it took you to the Wikipedia page all about “President” Barack Obama and his history.

SHARON: Could that have been set up as a hoax?

MIKI: That was set up as a red herring to throw everyone off the trail of the Pakistan connection. Anyway, I saw it, and they mentioned that, and someone might have testified about it earlier in the trial. However, it was brought up again today, and I remember when I first heard about that, it was right after Rev. Manning put out the word about the trial, and right after that, he did a YouTube video where he said, “They’re lying. They’re going to say that he was actually in Russia attending Patrice Lamumba University” to throw us off. He also said, “You watch; they’re not going to deny it; they’re going to let you think that that’s where he was, but don’t fall for it. He was really in Pakistan.”

SHARON: If the CIA gave Obama a new identity or identities, why was he not stopped when he put his hat in the ring to run for president? Has anyone discussed how he got as far as he did if all his records were scrubbed?

MIKI: We can probably find out. I heard that he signed an Executive Order to seal all of his records.

SHARON: He did; I recall reading about it shortly after his “coronation.”

MIKI: So no one can get his Punahou or other records. The ones that they absolutely don’t want anybody seeing are those that were scrubbed such as the passport records which involved Brennan, who worked for that company which worked with the CIA. They have the means, the wherewithal, to be able to scrub those passport records, and it’s known and reported about that breach where all three, McCain, Clinton and Obama’s records were breached. So the theory is that the late Lt. Quarles Harris knew something and he was supposedly working with the investigator, but which investigators we don’t know; perhaps just the local cops. And then he ended up being murdered. The only person who had a key to open that door was snuffed out. So that was discussed, and this is material that we had already heard. But again, there is the CIA connection. There’s Brennan, and now what’s Brennan doing now? So it’s just all too cozy.

SHARON: No one could have known 20 years ago that Obama was going to run for president. Is there a theory that he was recruited by the CIA because he could speak the language?

MIKI: Yes.

SHARON: Why would there have been a need to provide Obama with a fake past? Others have worked undercover for the CIA but the CIA perhaps doesn’t go to these lengths to hide it. What is your theory about that?

MIKI: Well, tomorrow they’re calling a witness who is an ex-KGB agent who wants to talk and feels that his life is in danger and he may as well get it out there. But getting back to the CIA, we know that the United States was financing the pushback against the Russian invasion. We were working with them and gave them money and guns. So where do you find these people to recruit to get them to do that? You look for someone who will fit, with a Muslim background who can speak at least a dialect of their language. And where do they recruit these people? They find these loners like Barack Obama at Occidental who are on a foreign-student status (again, those records were scrubbed), but he probably held a passport under the name of “Barry Soetoro” from Indonesia.

SHARON: Has any evidence come out about that yet that you’ve heard?

MIKI: No. There again, those records were either scrubbed…it’s all hidden. And it’s only the CIA that can do all of this. No matter how much they did, things have still leaked out. Almost everything that we’re hearing now we already knew. It had been leaked out, or we knew about it, and they couldn’t hide that. But wherever they could hide stuff, they did. But I think what happened was that they never expected that he would run for president. First he was a state senator in Illinois, and he used thug techniques to knock off the competition.

Even though the Religious Right can get no love from the Tea Party movement when it comes to adopting even a small part of their social agenda, it seems that Religious Right leaders are just tripping over themselves to speak at Tea Party rallies whenever the chance arises.

For instance, WallBuilders' Rick Green is speaking at a rally in Texas, and the Eagle Forum's Phyllis Schlafly is addressing an event in Michigan, while Ralph Reed is joining Bob Barr and Virginia Thomas, wife of Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas, for a Tea Party rally in Atlanta.

On top of that, the AFA's Bryan Fischer is speaking at an event in Mississippi and Alan Keyes was at one in Ohio, while Vision America's Rick Scarborugh is speaking at an event in Oklahoma where he will share the microphone with Oklahoma state Senator Randy Brogdon, who is trying to create Tea Party militia to defend the state's sovereignty from federal encroachment.

So I think it is safe to say that the supposed efforts by Tea Party organizers to salvage their reputation by distancing the movement from the crazies was, at best, an isolated incident.

Yesterday we mentioned that Rick Green had made it into a run-off election for a spot on the Texas Supreme Court, which was rather remarkable considering that he had exactly zero judicial experience and, since being voted out of state legislative office back in 2002, had been serving as David Barton's right-hand man at WallBuilders.

Now if you know anything about Barton's work and his presentations, then this video of Green will seem very familiar as he is basically Barton's back-up; a second-stringer delivering WallBuilders' presentations about America's purely Christian heritage when Barton is unavailable:

But rest assured that Green has an identity of his own, as well ... he's also a Tea Party activist who rails against "socialists" like Barney Frank and Chris Dodd and announces that they are "firing the first shots of a second American Revolution right here in Texas":

And just in case it isn't clear just how right-wing Rick Green really is, allow me to post this video of Alan Keyes endorsing him back in 2002:

Now that might not seem particularly relevant, except for the fact that it was Green who posted this ad on his YouTube page on February 11, 2010 ... so obviously, the endorsement of a completely unhinged Birther like Keyes is something that Green thinks is the sort of thing that it helps to highlight.

In one month, it is entirely possible this man could win a Republican run-off election and be all but assured of a seat on the Texas Supreme Court.

It seems that while the pundits and prognosticators are mulling over just what Scott Brown's victory means for President Obama, the Democratic agenda in Congress, and the future of the Republican Party, a theme is starting to emerge among the Religious Right that as exciting as Brown's win may have been, he's really just another RINO.

Randall Terry was first out of the box, saying that Brown's win was better than a Coakley win, but "we must not deceive ourselves or our supporters about Scott Brown, and his true position on child killing. We need to replace Scott Brown as soon as we can with a true defender of babies' lives, not a phony who supports their murder." 

Alan Keyes has made a similar point:

Conservatives working to restore constitution freedom can cheer for Obama's defeat, but take no cheer from Brown's victory because he is a typical RINO (Republican-in-name-only) who:

* has no differences in principle with the socialist-minded Democrats;

* embraces the substance of Obama's socialist agenda, but "opposes" Obama by criticizing his implementation of socialism, especially when it comes to fiscal matters;

* agrees in principle with the Democrats on the fundamental issues of justice and morality but employs the deceptive rhetoric of personal opinion to evade the questions of public law and policy they involve. Such issues include child-murder and other abrogations of the unalienable right to life, as well as the rejection of the God-endowed rights of the natural family.

Matt Barber is likewise of the view that Brown is little more than a "tourniquet": 

Many social conservatives (of which I’m one) have complained that the senator-elect is woefully flawed on social issues – particularly abortion. This is true.

Still, to my pro-life, pro-family compatriots, I offer this: While bleeding to death, one may be left no choice but to apply a tourniquet. A tourniquet is less than ideal. It may even cost a limb; however, it’s also likely to save one’s life. Obama has sliced open America’s wrists with his cutting political agenda. Time is of the essence. By providing Senate Republicans the crucial 41st vote needed to filibuster, Scott Brown supplies the tourniquet.

...

Of course, none of this justifies Brown’s indefensible position on abortion, “civil unions” and other social issues. I and others will not rest until he, and all who have been so deceived by the euphemistic language of “choice” and “reproductive freedom,” likewise recognize that all persons – whether born or pre-born – share an “inalienable right to life” that in every instance trumps another’s phantom “right to choose” premeditated murder.

Most importantly, even the Family Research Council admits that they are not happy with many of Brown's views but withheld criticism in pursuit of short term goals: 

Social conservatives held back criticism of Brown's social views--and, in some cases, openly supported him--because they believe a Brown win fulfills a short term goal of blocking President Obama's abominable health bill. Of course, the Republican Establishment would like us to believe that Scott Brown's moderate platform on life and marriage is a recipe for conservative success in 2010.

So it remains to be seen just how long the current infatuation with Brown lasts and if, when he comes up for re-election down the road, right-wing groups who are happy with his election now will be change their tune and end up backing a "true conservative" primary challenger later.

Obviously, that is a long way away ... but given that the Right doesn't really support Brown now, it is entirely possible that he might eventually find himself the next Dede Scozzafava or Charlie Crist.

Alan Keyes, writing on his blog Alan Keyes is LOYAL TO LIBERTY (seriously, that is its name,) explains that just as he warned back in 2004 that Barack Obama was a "hard line Marxist bent on destroying America," he must now sound the alarm bells about Sarah Palin, declaring her to be insufficiently opposed to abortion: 

Nothing Sarah Palin has said or done supports the view that she is pro-life as a matter of justice, law and public policy. So far as I can tell, she is just a pro-choice politician who turned a laudable personal choice into a seductive, but false pro-life public image. All the choices and statements she has made in her public capacity support this conclusion. If I'm wrong, show me the facts and statements that indicate something beyond the "I'm personally pro-life" position so common among the so-called "pro-choice" promoters of "abortion rights".

Unless Sarah Palin fundamentally alters the views she has enunciated and acted on up to now, I predict that she will disappoint the hope so many sincerely pro-life people are mistakenly investing in her supposed pro-life stand. I am sure I will pay a price for saying now what others will only realize when it may be too late. I was excoriated starting in 2004 for calling Obama a hard line Marxist bent on destroying America. That view is not at all so contemned today as it was when facts and reasoning first convinced me of its truth. Similarly on account of facts and reasoning I and others insist that Obama cease to withhold evidence bearing on whether or not he satisfies the Constitution's eligibility requirements for the Office of President of the United States. For this we are vilified and ridiculed, though many of our fellow Americans now join in this demand.

My view of Sarah Palin's supposed pro-life stance, and the danger involved in following her leadership, is similarly based on facts and reasoning. I will hold to it until one or the other clearly compels me to do otherwise. Experience has taught me that even among those whose pro-life hearts espouse the self-evident truths that make us free, when it comes to politics the factual standard of truth often gives way to personal feelings and expedient calculation. Given the crisis we are in, I can only pray that at some point they will realize that this neglect of the requirements of truth is the very reason America's liberty has reached the crisis point. Before a people finds leaders willing to act in truth, they must become a people willing to submit their own judgments and decisions to its demands.

Remember back in 2002 when MSNBC ran a program called "Alan Keyes Is Making Sense"?  Maybe Fox News should pick that up and put it back on the air because it seems like Keyes would fit in well with their programming at the moment: 

Former presidential candidate Alan Keyes has given perhaps his most dire warning yet, saying that the Obama administration is preparing to stage terror attacks, declare martial law and cancel the 2012 elections, which is why they are demonizing their political enemies as criminals and terrorists.

“It is so clear hat we have now put a faction in place – they are not playing by the rules and they don’t intend to play by the rules – if they were playing by the rules they wouldn’t have tried to identify their opposition as criminals,” added Keyes, making reference to the recent controversy surrounding the release of the MIAC and Homeland Security reports, which implied that Americans who exercise and are knowledgeable about their constitutional rights are a threat to law enforcement and potential domestic terrorists.

“It’s obvious that they will stop at nothing,” Keyes told attendees of a reception in Fort Wayne, adding, “We may wake up one day and there’s a series of terrorist attacks, the economy is paralysed… martial law will be declared everywhere in the United States and it won’t end until the crisis ends.”

“The minute they think they can get away with it, they will end this system of government and that is their intention,” added Keyes, noting that everyone acting as if the time we are in was just “business as usual” reminds him of the attitude of politicians in the Weimar Republic when Hitler was rising to power or eastern Europe when the Communists were taking over after the second world war.

Keyes said that because the majority of people are decent-minded, they believe others will play by the rules when this simply isn’t the case, warning that this attitude will allow evil to take over before we can do anything about it.

Keyes stated that the only solution was from the bottom up because our leaders “are so gutless that they won’t even ask that the Constitution be enforced for clear, plain, absolutely unequivocal requirements,” and respond meekly with “their lips shut and their hearts terrorized.”

Keyes also warned of Obama’s agenda to create a civilian security force (which could curtail the restrictions of Posse Comitatus Act) and said it was part of the ultimate agenda to disarm American citizens and create a police state.

Keyes has been a vocal critic of Obama, warning that he is a radical communist who is determined to destroy America, and that if his agenda is not stopped then the country as we know it will cease to exist.

The video itself was shot back in April and the sound quality is bad, but you can watch it here.

I suppose I am obligated to post the video of Orly Taitz's appearance on MSNBC yesterday, so here it is:

I don't feel this clip provided any new information to the issue - other than providing further evidence that Taitz is insane despite her insistence that she is not, in fact, crazy. 

In fact, the insistence by the Birthers that they are not crazy seems to be a their new defense, as that was exactly the point that Wiley Drake made last week:

Obama's supporters "want to brand anyone who questions him as a nut, and they're not. Alan Keyes is not a nut. I'm not," Drake said.

Which brings me to this good piece by David Weigel reporting that Taitz's antics and recklessness is causing a rift in the Birther movement among those who see her as undermining their efforts and which contains this interesting nugget: 

The “Kenyan birth certificate” has made skeptics out of people like Leahy and Kreep. Two of Taitz’s original plaintiffs, Wiley Drake and Markham Robinson, both associates of Alan Keyes during his presidential campaign, were removed from her latest filing after seeking new representation.

Has Taitz really become too crazy for the likes of Wiley Drake, a man who admits to praying to God to kill President Obama? That is quite an accomplishment.

On a semi-related note, I think it is also worth pointing out that Chuck Norris now seems to be throwing in with the Birthers as well, doing so by claiming that while he doesn't have any reason to doubt Obama's claims to citizenship, his refusal to release the document the Birthers are demanding is raising questions:

Isn't categorically satisfying constitutional requirements for a president, or answering the First Amendment grievances of hundreds of thousands of Americans, or ending a national debate or healing a country's divisions enough "direct and tangible interest"?

Mr. President, as more and more people realize that you are refusing to release your original birth certificate, further questions will fuel the fires of debate or at least hinder the embers from ever being snuffed out. Questions like, "Does it really contain the Hawaiian physician's name?" Or "Does it disclose something other than his birth place that he wishes others not to see?"

...

So again I ask, why don't you simply request, release and give permission to make public your original birth certificate?

Let's not forget that Norris was among Mike Huckabee's biggest and most visible supporters. That, coupled with the fact that Huckabee is scheduled to headline a right-wing conference next month being hosted by three bona fide Birthers leads me to wonder just what Huckabee's views are on this issue, considering that several of the people he has chosen to associate and surround himself with are deeply enmeshed in the Birther conspiracy movement.