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Fox News’ Hannity To Birther Issue: I Wish I Knew How To Quit You

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Last night, Fox News’ birther-conspiracy theory pusher Sean Hannity repeatedly told his guests and his audience how he never really believed the birthers. But Hannity, who last night also claimed, birtherism “was never a defining issue for me,” spent most of his show on the Obama birth certificate issue.

For proof of Hannity’s birther-peddling, read, “Coulter: Birther Rumor Discussed Exclusively On Liberal Cable, Not Fox.”

I confess to watching (and tweeting) Hannity a few nights a week while at the gym, so I’d like to thank the good folks at News Hounds for this report and video of Wednesday night’s “Hannity.”

 

The birth certificate “controversy” was not only the lead-off discussion but took up most of the first three segments on Hannity.

First up, Juan Williams. “Why didn’t he just release it earlier, Juan?” Hannity asked.

Then, later in the segment, Hannity moved on to “just ask,” “Why not release his transcripts? Why not release his thesis?” Then, just as Hannity has pretended all along not to fall in with the birthers, he now said, “I don’t care if he does (release the documents). Honestly, that’s not my focus.”

In the next segment, with Monica Crowley and Sandra Smith, Hannity reiterated, “This shouldn’t have taken two years on the certificate” and went on to showcase Trump’s newer demand that Obama release his school records and prove he deserved to get into Harvard and Columbia.

At the end of that segment, Hannity promised, “Coming up, much more on Donald Trump and the birth certificate controversy.” Hmmm, wasn’t the controversy just settled????

Hannity introduced the next segment, this one with Malkin, by again complaining that Obama took so long to produce the birth certificate. To repeat, what Obama just produced is a longer form of the birth certificate he had already produced.

With her typical sourpuss condescension, Malkin sneered about Obama “wagging his finger” over the issue and called him, “Mr. Waggy McFingerwagger at the media and everyone else.” And speaking of wagging fingers, Malkin she went on to wag her own finger at “the left wingers” and “the media” who had found the birther issue a “useful tool” with which to “demonize the right.”

Sure, Michelle, It must have been those liberal activists who somehow infiltrated “fair and balanced” Fox News and got them to discuss birtherism in at least 52 segments since March 2, 2011.

But to her credit, she went on to denounce the whole birther issue and Donald Trump to go with it.

That prompted Hannity to claim, “This wasn’t my issue either, but as time went on, and Donald Trump brought up the issue, it just seemed to me, just release it and it’s over.” Just like it’s over now, I guess!

Even more laughably, Hannity went on to say that now that the birth certificate has been released, “unless anyone comes up with a big smoking gun, it’s not an issue.”

Well, not until later in the show. When it was time for the Great American Panel segment, Hannity announced that the “big issue involving the birth certificate” was the leadoff topic. Once again, Hannity said, “This was never a defining issue for me but I found it odd… All the president had to do is what he did today. Release it, move on and we’re out of the way. Why did he wait so long?”

Guest Fran Tarkenton suggested that it was because Obama wanted the distraction and would probably want to “lose his birth certificate again because we know he doesn’t have any plan to get more jobs, to cut the deficit, in Libya or wherever.”

Guest Alice Stewart, a former Huckabee aide, said, “It should have been done two and a half years ago.”

Rounding out the “fair and balanced” panel of all conservatives was Fox News’ Peter Johnson who mentioned somewhere that he once worked for the former Democratic mayor of New York, David Dinkins. But Johnson has been a GOP footsoldier on Fox News, including during a recent appearance on Hannity where Johnson gushed over Trump’s birther questions as “common sense.” Johnson made no effort to disavow them here. In fact, Johnson suggested the birth certificate was somehow illegitimate, as he said, “My hope, Sean, is that it was released in good faith, that it’s not about victimology… That’s my concern, whether there’s some deeper plan that goes on here.”

So how did “Release-It-And-Move-On” Hannity respond? By planting a thoughtful expression on his face and saying, “That’s an interesting thought.” Then he went on to claim, “I always want to stay on the big issues.” But first, Hannity teased the next segment of the Panel: “the church that Barack Obama, the president and his family attended on Easter Sunday.”

I’m sure Hannity will get to those “big issues” any day now.

Oh, and by the way, it’s not just Hannity. When the news broke that Obama’s long-form birth certificate was available,FoxNews.com let out a dog whistle to birthers by saying the White House had released “what it says (my emphasis) is President Obama’s Long Form Birth Certificate.”

(emphasis mine.)

https://youtube.com/watch?v=x2Sg8vuovM0%3Ffs%3D1%26hl%3Den_US

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RIGHT WING EXTREMISM

Fox Host Says Democrats Don’t Believe in Heaven So They Play ‘Hard’ to ‘Perfect’ Earth

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June 4, 2023

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Fox News host Rachel Campos-Duffy blamed the differences between Republicans and Democrats on religious beliefs about Heaven.

On Sunday’s Fox & Friends program, co-host Pete Hegseth argued religion was liberating because people could realize they aren’t perfect. A video clip of the moment was shared on social media.

“It changes the way you look even at politics,” Campos-Duffy agreed. “And sometimes, you know, we look at how hard on the left they play. They really play for keeps. They play in a way that’s very, you know, a lot of times conservatives look at it and go, why don’t we play as hard as them?”

The Fox News host said Democrats were trying to perfect the Earth because they did not believe in Heaven.

“Well, for them, where we live right now, this place, Earth is it,” she opined. “So everything’s on the line here for them. They think, as you said, they can perfect this Earth. Those of us who have faith don’t believe that. And we believe how we act here determines where we go after. And so we had to behave.”

“And so even in politics, we don’t, you know, we act within those moral limits,” Campos-Duffy insisted. “And you know, the ends justify the means is sort of the rules for radicals. That’s not how Christians act.”

Watch the video below from Fox News or at the link.

 

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News

Extremist Group Targets Florida High School’s Yearbook Over Inclusion of LGBTQ Students Section

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June 3, 2023

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The publication of a Florida high school yearbook that included an LGBTQ section has drawn rebuke from a conservative group, The Orlando Sentinel reports.

Lyman High School’s 256-page yearbook includes two pages that highlight the school’s LGBTQ students and features gender identity terms such as “genderfluid” and “nonbinary.”

The Seminole County Public Schools in response to the criticism is offering to issue refunds or reprint the yearbook without the LGBTQ section that the conservative Seminole County Moms for Liberty claims is offensive.

“They shouldn’t have any sexual definitions in a yearbook,” the group’s chapter chair Jessica Tillmann told The Sentinel.

“This is a yearbook that goes to every student as young as 14.”

The school’s yearbook is stirring controversy for a second straight year after the district in 2022 considered putting stickers over photos of a student walkout protesting the so-called “don’t say gay” law, the report said.

The Sentinel’s Skyler Swisher reports that “An LGBTQ+ section in this year’s yearbook includes a picture of members of the student’s Gay-Straight Alliance, definitions of key LGBTQ+ terms, a passage on the evolution of pronouns and a profile of a student who advocates for the LGBTQ+ community.”

Danielle Pomeranz, the school yearbook’s faculty advisor, isn’t on board with the district’s decision to remove the LGBTQ content.

“They are definitions,” Pomeranz told The Sentinel.

“They are not teaching anything about sex at all. … Nobody is teaching anybody about sex acts. It is ridiculous.”

Pomeranz has since resigned from her position in the district, citing in part the Sunshine State’s political climate and an unsupportive district, the report said.

“We’ve always had the LGBTQ+ spread in there,” she said.

“Our job as journalists and members of the yearbook staff is to provide coverage of the entire school and that includes all of the communities, including the LGBTQ+ community.”

Read the full article here.

Image via Shutterstock

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RIGHT WING EXTREMISM

‘No Longer the Lord’s Chicken’: ‘Christian Woman’ Says She’s ‘Grieving’ Over ‘Woke’ Chick-fil-A Hiring a Diversity Officer

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3 days ago

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June 2, 2023

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A self-described “Christian woman” who is a contributor to the far-right wing students organization Turning Point USA, is being widely mocked for posting a video attacking Chick-fil-A over claims the conservative, privately-owned, faith-based fast food restaurant chain recently hired a diversity officer.

“So I’m grieving,” the video, apparently by Morgonn McMichael (below), begins. “It’s lunchtime. I’m here with Aubrey. And we really wanted some Chick-fil-A but because they decided to hire a diversity, equity and inclusion corporate position, and also bow down to the woke lord because their ESG scores, and also I found out do you know their chicken is funded by BlackRock and Vanguard? Yeah their farms, they use Tyson and this other farm, BlackRock and Vanguard funded chicken.”

If you think that’s a mouthful just wait, there’s more.

“Chick-fil-A,” Morgonn continues, “you are no longer the Lord’s chicken. You’re actually the woke chicken and I’m really upset about it as a Christian woman. All we wanted was some good fried chicken so now we’re gonna go to Cane’s, we’re going to try it out.”

READ MORE: Classified Pentagon ‘War Plans’ Document Trump Bragged About in Audio Recording Is Missing: Report

Raising Cane’s Chicken Fingers is a Louisiana-based fast food restaurant with 600 locations in the U.S. and Western Asia.

“This is really difficult because there’s a Chick-fil-A is across the street. Now eating chicken fingers instead of chicken nuggets. I know, first world Christian woman problems, but no one will ever understand the love that I had for Chick-fil-A.”

“You know, we’re taking this boycott Chick-fil-A thing seriously, and it’s really difficult.”

The video was posted to Twitter by the anonymous group PatriotTakes, which has been described as a liberal political action committee. It quickly went viral, garnering over 2 million views in just eight hours. Late Friday afternoon Morgonn tweeted, “sarcasm and satire are things the left doesn’t seem to understand.”

For those who don’t know, Turning Point USA, a far-right Christian nationalist organization, was founded by the ultra-MAGA Charlie Kirk, now a member of the highly-secretive Council for National Policy.

CNP’s membership list also includes former Trump attorney, ally, and advisor Cleta Mitchell, and Ginni Thomas.

“CNP members range from the leaders of the Heritage Foundation and the Federalist Society, to the Southern Poverty Law Center designated anti-LGBTQ hate groups Family Research Council and Alliance Defending Freedom,” Documented reported last year.

Turning Point USA was in the news last week after Rolling Stone reported: “Charlie Kirk’s TPUSA Teamed Up With a Registered Sex Offender.”

Meanwhile, over at TPUSA, Morgonn McMichael’s bio says she is “a Gen Z social media influencer from Texas whose effort to empower and inspire America’s next generation of young conservative female leaders through patriotic online video content has amassed over 100,000 unique social media impressions every week on Instagram, TikTok, Facebook, and more.”

READ MORE: ‘I Don’t Want Reality’: Senate Republican Explodes Over Origin of Concept of Race – Calls to Teach ‘Jesus Loves Me’ Instead

“Morgonn has dedicated the last year promoting freedom of speech, religious liberty, personal responsibility, and limited government both online and across TPUSA campus chapters. Morgonn has also reached tens of thousands of viewers of all ages with her articles and appearances on Newsmax, Real America’s Voice, OAN, and Breitbart, offering insightful cultural commentary into the most pressing issues concerning young conservatives today.”

Apparently, Chick-fil-A’s diversity officer (more on that next) is one of “the most pressing issues concerning young conservatives today.”

Morgonn did claim Chick-fil-A “decided to hire a diversity, equity and inclusion” officer.

Well, stunningly, the company – long known for its hate-filled attacks on same-sex marriage – did, over a year ago.

A USA Today fact check found Chick-fil-A hired Erick McReynolds, its vice president of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion, more than a year and a half ago. The company even has a DEI page featuring him on its corporate website.

PatriotTakes also tweeted, “TPUSA Contributor Morgonn, who is now calling for a boycott of Chick-fil-a, previously said, Cancel culture is toxic’ and ‘needs to be canceled.'”

As some social media users pointed out, Cane’s Chicken Fingers is very pro-LGBTQ.

READ MORE: Decision to Not Charge Pence in Classified Docs Probe Is ‘Prelude to DOJ Seeking Charges Against Trump’: Legal Expert

“Since its inception in the early 2000s, Raising Cane’s has been a strong supporter of the LGBT community,” San Diego Gay & Lesbian News (SDGLN) reported in November. “The chicken chain was one of the first companies to offer domestic partner benefits to its employees and has been a vocal advocate for LGBT rights. In 2015, Raising Cane’s was named one of the best places to work for LGBT Equality by the Human Rights Campaign.”

In response to Morgonn’s video, Mississippi Free Press editor Ashton Pittman posted this screenshot from a Raising Cane’s tweet:

Over at TPUSA, Morgonn has written content including a piece titled, “Disney’s Male Employee in a Dress Sparks Outrage,” that begins, “At Disney, anyone can be a princess — even a grown man.”

Also, “Disney in Decline: Company Loses Billions Due to Woke Agenda.”

Noted actor and activist George Takei weighed in, tweeting simply, “They’ve lost their goddamned minds.”

Watch Morgonn below or at this link.

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