Breitbart News contributor Jeremy Segal spoke at a conference promoting birtherism and other conspiracy theories on Thursday, July 19. Segal also received an award from event organizer Cliff Kincaid, inscribed “our nation gives thanks” for Segal's work in the conservative movement.
Roughly 40 people attended the conference, entitled “The Vetting: Obama, Radical Islam and the Soros Connection,” which took place at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C. The conference, which Kincaid promoted through the website leninandsharia.com, purported to expose the supposed communist roots of President Obama and those around him, as well as communism's purported connection to radical Islam and the threat that conspiracy poses to American security.
Kincaid told attendees that he was working on an anti-Obama film, The Unvetted. Breitbart.com has frequently claimed that President Obama hasn't been properly scrutinized by the media and has devoted a series of posts branded “THE VETTING” to accomplish the job.
Kincaid, who also serves as the director of Accuracy In Media's Center for Investigative Journalism, has a history of writing anti-gay, conspiracy-filled commentary. He has spread conspiracy theories about Hillary Clinton's “alleged lesbianism” and Barack Obama's “mysterious upbringing as a Muslim.”
Kincaid has also described pedophilia and child rape as “dangerous homosexual practices,” supported a law in Uganda which would have imposed the death penalty on homosexuals, and said gay males were “notorious disease carriers.” He once described Rachel Maddow as “a lesbian with hair so short that she looks like a man.”
To associate with Kincaid is to be knee-deep in some of the most bizarre elements of the conservative movement.
New McCarthyism & “Bring Back Beck”
In conference materials, Kincaid, whose America's Survival, Inc. company organized the event, said that “Our July 19 conference fulfills the late Andrew Breitbart's promise to finally 'vet' the president. The diabolical dangers of Marxism and radical Islam must be exposed. It is time for the shocking truth about Obama and his agenda to emerge.”
The handout also noted that “America's Survival, Inc. wishes to acknowledge the generous financial support from foundations associated with Richard M. Scaife.” In his closing remarks, Kincaid also said that attendees should “thank Dick Scaife” for his support.
During the conference, Kincaid repeatedly called for Congress to revive the House Committee on Internal Security - also known by its more infamous name the House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC) -- to investigate what he sees as internal threats to America. The original committee, which lasted from the 1940s to the 1960s, investigated allegations of communist infiltration of the United States. It was responsible for the Hollywood blacklist, where artists who refused to testify in front of the panel were barred from working in the industry. President Truman described the committee in 1959 as the “most un-American thing in the country today.”
Kincaid claimed that President Obama's election to the White House demonstrated the need for reviving the committee since he “could not survive any reasonable background check.”
He said a HUAC-style committee should investigate Huma Abedin, an aide to Secretary of State Hillary Clinton who he accused of “ties to the Muslim Brotherhood.” Republican and Democratic leaders in the House of Representatives recently criticized Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-MN) for making similar allegations. Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) denounced Bachmann's accusations on the Senate floor.
Kincaid also lamented that the best venue for information about subversive influence in the Obama administration, Glenn Beck, was no longer on the air. He added that Fox News should “bring back Beck” and conference goers received pins with that message. He also said that “we continue Glenn Beck's work through our website sorosfiles.com.”
Conference speaker Paul Kengor's book, The Communist: Frank Marshall Davis: The Untold Story of Barack Obama's Mentor, is published by Mercury Ink, Glenn Beck's publishing company. Kincaid praised Mercury for the publication of the book.
The Breitbart Connection
Introduced by Kincaid as “a disciple of the late Andrew Breitbart,” blogger Jeremy Segal explained in his speech to the conference how Breitbart inspired him to go “out into the street” as a video activist. Segal contributes to the Breitbart News website as “Rebel Pundit”.
Segal echoed an old Glenn Beck argument that “social justice” as used by liberals is simply a code word for communism. Segal said that while liberals have told him that opposing social justice meant setting America back 200 years, he doesn't see that as a drawback.“Social justice” is concept that has been supported by the Catholic Church, Conservative and Reform Jews, Martin Luther King, and the Church of Latter-Day Saints.
He bragged that his videos had appeared on Fox News, and that his stories are “pissing off the left in Chicago.”
At the conclusion of his speech, Segal received a plaque from Kincaid and a warm round of applause from attendees.
Birther Movie Gets Standing Ovation, Director Thanks Drudge
Conservative filmmaker Joel Gilbert used the event to present an excerpt of his movie Dreams from My Real Father: A Story of Reds and Deception.
The film is narrated by a voice actor doing a bad impression of President Obama's voice. In the excerpt, the narrator -- as “Obama” -- claims that “my real father is Frank Marshall Davis” and that “I am what's known as a red diaper baby.”
In an attempt to prove that activist Frank Marshall Davis is Obama's “real” father, the narrator says that “I have my mom's long chin, but many of my features are from my real father.” The film also claims that because both Davis and Obama smoke and are tall there is a familial connection.
The idea that Davis' views motivate Obama was popularized by conspiracy theorist Jerome Corsi in 2008. But in his book, Dreams from My Father, Obama wrote that Davis “fell short” of the “lofty standards” of men like “Martin and Malcolm, Dubois and Mandela.”
Gilbert claimed that the mainstream media is “intentionally suppressing” his “research” and praised WorldNetDaily, Matt Drudge, and conspiracy theorist Jack Cashill for popularizing his work.
The director also showed off an ad promoting the theory that a 1973 photo of Obama was Photoshopped to hide his “real” father, and described the long-form birth certificate released by President Obama as “an obvious forgery.”
He received a standing ovation. After the presentation, conference attendees swarmed a table offering copies of the DVD for sale.
Beck-Endorsed Writer Warns Violence “Will Be Turned On” By Obama
Trevor Loudon, who has appeared as a guest of Glenn Beck's radio show, told the audience that there is a “hardcore enemy of this country in the White House.”
Promoting his book Barack Obama and the Enemies Within (which touts an endorsement from Beck), Loudon claimed that former Illinois Senate member Alice Walker, for whom Obama once worked, was a communist influence on the president.
As he has done before, Loudon promoted the false story that Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta was a secret communist. He also claimed that the policy of the Democratic Party is set by the communist People's World.
He warned that in the lame duck period after the election, Obama would “lay waste” to America and when “it suits” Democrats, “the violence will be turned on.”
Kincaid praised Loudon as being on “the cutting edge of what's happening in our country.”
Speakers Pile On Conspiracy Theories
Other featured speakers weaved extensive conspiracies about supposed ties between communists, liberals, and radical Islam.
Ryan Mauro, a contributor to PJ Media who has often appeared as a national security analyst on Fox News, presented a shortened version of the film The Third Jihad, which was described as a “hate-filled film about Muslims” by the New York Times editorial board after it was screened for the NYPD.
Mauro claimed that Republican New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie is “in bed” with the Muslim Brotherhood, as is conservative activist Grover Norquist. He lamented what he saw as a “sharp decrease” in recentcoverage of Islamic terrorism by Fox News.
Former FBI informant Larry Grathwohl claimed President Obama would be unable to pass a FBI background check, and that he is a “black figurehead” who is doing “communist's bidding.”
Author Paul Kengor similarly claimed that Obama “would have trouble getting clearance for an entry level government job.” Kengor followed in other conservatives' footprints and insisted that Obama's re-election slogan, “forward,” is tied to the usage of “forward” by an old communist newspaper.
Konstantin Preobrazhensky, a former KGB officer, presented a “report” on what he claimed is extensive links between communism and radical Islam.