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Ha! Suddenly Breitbart thinks the birthers are out of bounds?

February 07, 2010 9:18 am ET by Eric Boehlert

Lots of chatter about a Washington Independent article in which David Weigel, reporting from the Tea Party convention, captured Andrew Breitbart and RW birther nut Joseph Farah having a heated exchange about the whole birther crusade.

Breirtbart castigated Farah's obsession as being "self-indulgent", "narcissistic," and being "a losing issue" for Republicans at the ballot box.  And oh yeah, Farah couldn't prove his case, so Breitbart said he ought to just drop it already.

That's all very interesting and some are pointing to Breitbart as a right-wing voice of reason, which is always a big mistake. Why? Becuase Breitbart site, Big Hollywood*, last year gladly published birther nuts who used Breirtbart's platform to push the hate.

Behold Breitbart's birther past, via Big Hollywood: 

On September 10, Burt Prelutsky criticized the "hypocrisy of liberals" in not expressing any "concern over Obama's refusal to offer up" his birth certificate:

...

On August 22, Chele Stanton claimed that the media are giving Obama a "free pass" on issues such as Obama saying "he was born in Hawaii -- Yet his own Grandmother says he was born in Kenya and she was there at his birth" and that Obama "[w]on't release his school records, medical records, or birth certificate -- no explanation." Stanton concluded: "Obama promised transparency, but all I've seen is secrecy. If there is nothing to hide... then why are those records still being hidden? Concerned Americans want to know and deserve to know... the truth."

...

On August 11, Jeremy D. Boreing wrote a post headlined, "In Defense of the Birthers." Boreing claimed he is "not a Birther" but wrote that the treatment of birthers is "completely unfair" because they are raising "perfectly legitimate questions." Boreing added that Obama "plainly is not one of us":

...

Carl Kozlowski wrote on July 30 that "the more I read about [Obama], the more questions I had. I also had always held respect for John McCain and his incredible sacrifices for the nation, so by the time fall rolled around, I was campaigning for the war hero and speaking out against the man who couldn't even produce a normal birth certificate to prove he belonged in the White House."

...

Joseph C. Phillips wrote on April 13 that "[t]here are a vast number of Americans that are not even aware that there are ambiguities surrounding the president's birth certificate or that those questions remain unanswered. The issue is not one promulgated by the opposition party, nor is it one entertained by any mainstream conservative or Republican writers."

...

Prelutsky claimed on April 15 that "our president went to Europe recently and, doing his rather uncanny impression of Michael Moore, apologized for American arrogance. Naturally, his own arrogant words were greeted with great applause from a pack of jackals who would have been under the boot of Hitler or Stalin, except for America's hatred of tyranny, its unrivaled display of courage and fortitude, and its sacrifice of treasure and blood. It is at such times that one can easily understand why the question about Obama's citizenship continues to plague so many people." 

To recap, Breitbart now says the birther stuff is "self-indulgent" and wrong. But not that long ago his site published all kinds of birther nonsense, including a column called "In Defense of the Birthers." 

Hypocrisy noted. 

*Changed. I originally suggested the birther nonsense appeared on Breitibart's Big Government site. Instead, it appeared on Breitbart's Big Hollywood site. 

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    • Author by overmars jr. (February 07, 2010 9:50 am ET)
      5  
      It was only a matter of time before Breitbart started going after his "self-indulgent", "narcissistic," and being "a losing issue" competitors.

      Do remember, folks, it's all about money to these people. Nothing else.
      Report Abuse
      • Author by rms (February 07, 2010 3:43 pm ET)
        1  
        ...and ego.
        Report Abuse
      • Author by aBeck in 10-O-C (February 07, 2010 8:05 pm ET)
        1  
        "Do remember, folks, it's all about money to these people. Nothing else."

        When Imus asked Glenn Beck why he was touring with O'Reilly, his answer was "The cash". In a free market wingnutery is lucrative.
        Report Abuse
    • Author by stullivan (February 07, 2010 10:13 am ET)
         
      Let's call it Hypocrisy if BigGov and Breitbart go back to publishing Birther BS in the future.

      I haven't read the article referenced above in WI, but MMFA doesn't report that Breitbart disagrees with Farah on the President's Birth Status - he might believe the Birther BS but realizes that politically, not being able to prove it is damaging to the GOP/republican's. I guess he means the RPINO - Republican Party In Name Only. The true Republican Party is the TEA Partiers - if you disagree with or don't pander to them you're not a true Republican.

      I think the true hypocrisy is the fact that Breitbart told Farah to drop it because he couldn't prove his case. Breitbart and company can't prove their ACORN conspiracies or make the original un-edited videos available but they'll keep pushing their theories and smears.

      Report Abuse
    • Author by IRONY 101 (February 07, 2010 11:12 am ET)
      6  
      Did Brietbart ever say the birthers should drop the contrived "issue"" because it's bat-sheit crazy...and it's a lie?
      Report Abuse
    • Author by mustardman (February 07, 2010 12:46 pm ET)
      3  
      Boy, he is actually smart enough to rationalize the fact that a bunch of old pathetic white people hating on the president with thinly veiled racist strawmen is a losing election issue?

      Gosh, maybe he is almost as smart as a 5th grader.
      Report Abuse
    • Author by cugagcmu805031 (February 07, 2010 1:48 pm ET)
      3  
      I wandered over to Weigel's post last night and found some right-wing armchair lawyers using already debunked lawsuits and passages from the constitution to claim that Obama is not a legitimate president. Liberals on the blog were further debunking them as fast as they could be posted, a clear example of facts having a liberal bias. Pay no attention to the fact that the DOJ and other federal agencies vetted the candidates at a level none of us could imagine. Farah's own publication, WorldNutDaily debunked the claim, yet nothing kept him from pushing the lie even harder at the 'bagger convention.
      Report Abuse
    • Author by ProgLib (February 08, 2010 6:07 am ET)
         
      Wingnuts are the king of flip floppers... it's amazing. One second they are on board with something and the next second they act like they were never heard of it.
      Report Abuse
      • Author by ProgLib (February 08, 2010 6:07 am ET)
           
        they never heard*
        Report Abuse
      • Author by MickD (February 08, 2010 7:39 am ET)
           
        When it's a losing issue they drop it, if it were still gaining any traction, they run with it. The Heritage Foundation must have sent a memo saying drop it, Farah didn't understand it.
        Report Abuse

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