Tea Party Marine Gary Stein Lies To CNN

Last week Gary Stein, the Marine sergeant who runs the Facebook page Armed Forces Tea Party, was found to have violated military rules of conduct when he made hostile remarks directed at his commanders, including his commander-in-chief, President Obama. The board hearing his case ruled unanimously to recommend an “other than honorable” discharge for Stein and he is now awaiting a final decision from the base’s general.

As if he weren’t already in enough trouble, Stein appeared on CNN this morning for an interview with Soledad O’Brien where he was given the opportunity to defend his behavior. In response to a question from O’Brien, Stein somehow thought it would advance his position to blatantly lie.

Gary Stein CNN

Stein: First of all let’s talk about those comments. Those comments were made on a closed forum. They were up for five minutes, which we found out from testimony in the hearing. And only three people saw them. In fact the only reason anybody has a picture of those posts or knows what those posts are is because a Marine master sergeant decided that he was gonna take a screen capture and send it out to God knows who.

This is shockingly stupid on Stein’s part because the truth is so easy to verify. Stein’s assertion that the comments were made on a closed forum is rebutted by the fact that the forum is still available and is wide open for anyone on Facebook to access. His claim that the comments were up for only five minutes is rebutted by the fact that some of them, including one specifically cited by O’Brien (pictured above), are still there weeks later. And he must surely know that his comments were seen by more than three people because they have “Likes” and responses attached to them (note the 114 “Likes” and 32 responses on the image above). Finally, that image was not sent to me by a Marine master sergeant. I captured it myself on Stein’s Facebook page, and so can you.

So Stein’s remarks on CNN were entirely, and certifiably, false. That dishonesty is surely going to be apparent to anyone reviewing his case. It is startling that his attorney, sitting next to him for the whole interview, permitted him to be so brazenly deceitful on national television.

That brings us to the identity of his attorney, Gary Kreep, of the United States Justice Foundation. Kreep’s biography reveals that he was the general counsel to the racist, anti-immigration group, The Minutemen. He has been affiliated with the radical and violent anti-choice group, Operation Rescue. He was a California delegate to the Republican National Conventions in 1976 and 1980. He was also the creator of the “DefendGlenn” web site launched to counter the opposition to Glenn Beck that eventually led to his ouster from Fox News.

Most notably Kreep has been a leader of the “birther” movement that seeks to nullify Obama’s election on the grounds that he is not a U.S. citizen. Kreep has been one of the most vocal proponents of the birther myths going back to at least November 2008, when he tried to prevent California delegates to the Electoral College from casting their votes. He originally worked with birther queen, Orly Taitz, representing several clients, including Alan Keyes. He later replaced Taitz as counsel to birther litigant “Rev.” Wiley Drake. Drake is notable for publicly praying for the death of President Obama.

When a man like Drake selects you to represent him, over Orly Taitz, that is quite an endorsement. It is likewise revealing that Stein should retain Kreep out of all the lawyers available to represent him. He received help during his discharge hearing from the ACLU, and Tea Party organizers FreedomWorks are rallying support for his dubious cause. Yet the best he can do for legal representation is this Kreep (and how ’bout that tie?).

[Update] On April 25, 2012, the Marines formally discharged Stein as the commanding general of the base accepted the administrative board’s recommendation for discharge.

Conservatives Gone Wild: CPAC Is All Up In Yo Face

The Conservative Political Action Conference will open tomorrow in Washington, D.C. and it promises to be totally off the hook. For those unable to attend, you might like to hear a bit about what you’ll be missing. Fox News provided this account of the festivities that, this year, will be making a special appeal to young conservatives.

“In a bid to make conservative chic, organizers of the annual meet-up of Republican Party faithful and right-wing firebrands are taking pains this year to gear their summit toward students and the under-30 crowd. Added to the menu are a slew of new media workshops and an entertainment lineup befitting a college campus.”

So what constitutes “chic” to these rightist party planners?

The XPAC Lounge – a room one organizer dubbed the ‘hub of fun.’ That’s where the video games and the junk food will be.”

Well, if the video games and junk food will be there, then so will every young Tea Bagger in America. XPAC (Xtreme Politically Active Conservatives) is a CPAC spinoff created to appeal to America’s youth, whom Glenn Beck regards as useful idiots. That view is apparently shared by XPAC as demonstrated by their obvious contempt for young people. There is a presumption from this crowd that all kids care about is Wii, Xbox and Guitar Hero and, of course, Pizza, Cheetohs, and beer. They certainly aren’t interested in mundane pursuits like economics, foreign affairs, health care, education, etc. XPAC actually promotes their sideshow (which costs $20.00 on top of the conference registration) as…

“…a place to hang while the older crowd attends the high-priced nightly dinners.”

So it’s the kiddie table. And what about that “entertainment lineup befitting a college campus?” Did they snag Cage the Elephant or Dane Clark? Nope. Try Ann Coulter, Michael Steele and the Young Cons, a couple of white, Christians in business suits trying to rap. And then there was this enticing news from CPAC spokesman Ian Walters:

“I wouldn’t be surprised if somebody of Joe the Plumber stature came in three times a day to come in and rally the kids.”

Seriously? Stature? All the kids I know would be having fits if they thought they might be within arms reach of Joey the P. He’s so dreamy. And add to this roster of stars
Fox News BoratACORN-busting hooker and Fox News porn star, Hannah Giles. She and her pimp, James O’Keefe, will be receiving the “1st Annual XPAC Award for Impact.” But O’Keefe first has to get his parole officer’s permission in order to attend, as he was arrested in a senator’s office recently on potential felony charges. Now that’s impact. Giles will be introducing the pair’s mentor, Andrew Breitbart for the morning keynote disinformation.

Organizers are anxious to attract more young conservatives who, they say, are are “proving more adept at using new media.” They say that the conference agenda reflects that “fact” because it includes workshops and sessions on blogging and using Twitter. The obvious question is, if they are already more adept, then why do they need these workshops?

In addition to the must-see lineup above, you won’t want to miss Tom Tancredo, fresh from the Tea Baggers convention where he proposed reinstating literacy tests for voting and other racist Jim Crow-era atrocities. Gary Kreep will be on hand for the Birther contingent. Kreep was the lead council for Birther activist, “Rev.” Wiley Drake, who was also notable for his encouragement of prayers for the death of President Obama. Kreep is also the proprietor of the DefendGlenn web site that was a response to the wildly successful advertiser boycott of Beck’s show on Fox. And speaking of Beck, he will be giving the closing keynote speech on Saturday night to tie together all of the racism, birtherism, secessionism, militarism, and assorted propaganda that was dispensed throughout the conference. That’ll be the time to really get your paranoia on.

Prospective Republican presidential hopefuls Mitt Romney, Mike Huckabee, Tim Pawlenty, Newt Gingrich, and Rick Santorum, will all be attending. The only one missing is Sarah Palin, who declined to attend in favor of the Tea Bagging in Nashville. Although why she could not do both is a mystery. Maybe it has something to do with the fact that the Tea Baggers paid her a hundred grand and the CPACers offered her zilch. Appearing under those circumstances is just not the American way.

The News Corpse 2009 Retro-Speculum

Looking back on 2009 can be a harrowing experience. There has been much that many people would rather not recollect. It was a year that began with dreadful economic suffering. From there it went on to unprecedented political division, animosity, and disappointment from virtually every perspective. And it ended with a reminder of our vulnerability to violent extremists at home and abroad. For that reason, like the mythical Medusa, it may be best not to look back on 2009 directly.

Nevertheless, News Corpse has compiled some moments that, for our own good, ought not to be forgotten.

SPINCOMMedia Malfeasance of the Year:
SPINCOM. In 2008, David Barstow wrote an article for the New York Times detailing how television news programs were employing Pentagon-trained military analysts to promote the Bush administration’s agenda for an unnecessary and illegal war in Iraq. In 2009, that article won a Pulitzer prize, a Golden Keyboard from the New York Press Association, and an Emmy nomination. Yet the article and its author never once appeared on television to discuss it. Despite Barstow’s many accolades and awards, the story was blackballed by the same TV producers who hired the phony pundits (who were also enriching themselves as consultants for the military contractors who benefited from the war). And by refusing to report on one of the most egregious examples of propaganda ever directed at the American people by their government, they also covered up their own complicity in cheerleading for the war.

2010 Prediction:
Someone famous will die while fleeing from police in a high-speed TV chase after being caught cheating on a spouse for a new reality show.

ACORN: Pimp. Prostitute, BoratThe Pimp & The Prostitute
What passes for journalism took a huge hit in 2009 when a couple of rightist activists dressed up for a Halloween expose on what they regarded as America’s most feared enemy: community organizers. James O’Keefe and Hannah Giles played the roles they were made for, a pimp and a whore, as they visited offices of ACORN. The results were dishonestly edited videos that were played incessantly on Fox News despite having zero news value. The pair never appeared on any other television news network as they were closely guarded by their mentor Andrew Breitbart, and their patrons at Fox. Sadly, the other networks acquiesced by reporting the story despite having no access to the pseudo-news team.

2010 Prediction:
Osama Bin Laden will buy Philip Morris, thus taking responsibility for killing 197,000 more Americans EVERY YEAR than he did that one time on 9/11.

Glenn Beck Rodeo ClownColor of Change We Can Believe In:
After Glenn Beck called the President a racist, a previously little-known group embarked on a boycott campaign directed at Beck’s advertisers. By last accounting Color of Change had persuaded over 80 advertisers to pull or withhold their ads from Becks show. What’s more, they compelled a retraction from the DefendGlenn web site (whose proprietor, Gary Kreep, is a story unto himself) that had been falsely disparaging the boycott efforts.

2010 Prediction:
Twitter will fold when its enfeebled users decide that 140 characters is too many to comprehend. It will be replaced by Blather, where messages are restricted to 26 characters and you can only use each letter of the alphabet once. The media will herald it as a phenomenon.

Fox News Tea PartyThe Tea Party Delusion
What can be said about the year’s most overblown non-story: The Tea Party Movement? Never has there been a less significant amalgamation of disruptive whiners that received more attention from a controversy-challenged media. The Tea Baggers were always just a noisy minority who were fully sponsored by right-wing lobbyists and Fox News. But near the end of the year a poll was released that revealed the truth, even though the true part was ignored. The NBC/Wall Street Journal poll hit the airwaves proclaiming that Tea Baggers (at 41%) were more popular that Democrats (35%) or Republicans (28%). What they didn’t report, although it was in the same poll, was that 48% of respondents knew very little or nothing at all about the Tea Baggers. When almost half of the country doesn’t know who you are, you are not much of a movement.

2010 Prediction:
Fox News will lie. (I know. That one was too easy, but it’s New Year’s Eve and I have a party to go to).

Undisputed Scumbag Pundit Hall of Shame
This award is a tie due to the presence of two so thoroughly deserving Scumbag Pundits. These despicable cretins earned their awards by claiming a couple of the most repulsive utterings ever contemplated in the press:

Retired Lieutenant Colonel, Ralph Peters: “Although it seems unthinkable now, future wars may require censorship, news blackouts and, ultimately, military attacks on the partisan media.”

Former CIA employee Michael Scheuer: “[T]he only chance we have as a country right now is for Osama bin Laden to deploy and detonate a major weapon in the United States.”

And just for fun, I now present the Comedy Colonoscopy Award for 2009. So far as I know, there was only one entry. But it’s a doozy:


HAPPY NEW YEAR!

The Man Behind The Defend Glenn Beck Web Site

Shortly after Glenn Beck said that President Obama is a racist who has “a deep seated hatred for white people,” the activist group Color of Change launched a campaign aimed at Beck’s advertisers. The campaign has enjoyed unparalleled success, persuading over forty companies to withhold their advertising dollars from Beck’s program.

In response to the action by Color of Change, a conservative activist created a web site to counter the growing opposition to Beck. DefendGlenn was created to instigate complaints directed at the companies who pulled their ads from Beck, and to thank his remaining advertisers. Instead, the site has become a repository of lies and disinformation, as well as a sycophantic center of blind adulation for Beck.

It is impossible to gauge whether the site has any measurable influence, except to note that none of the companies boycotting Beck have reversed their positions, nor cited DefendBeck as motivation for their actions. However, the press has taken notice and is beginning to treat the site as the legitimate counterbalance to Color of Change. Consequently, whenever there is a mention of Color of Change, the media, in its misguided pursuit of balance, will mention DefendGlenn as well. This is another example of media laziness. Balance is not achieved by juxtaposing truth with lies. Color of Change documents its impact with letters from the companies they have solicited, and their leaders and staff are identified on their web site. But DefendGlenn provides no such documentation, and their leadership is a mystery to anyone who visits their site.

So who is DefendGlenn? The only identifying information on the site is a disclaimer at the bottom of its donations page:

DISCLAIMER: DEFENDGLENN.com is a FAN SITE, and is not affiliated with Glenn Beck, the Glenn Beck Program, Fox New Channel, NewsCorp Inc., or Premiere Radio Networks. DEFENDGLENN.com is a project of United States Justice Foundation. The United States Justice Foundation (USJF) a non-profit organization, whose tax-exempt status under IRS section 501(c)(3) has been recognized by the Internal Revenue Service. Your contributions are tax deductible. Corporate contributions may be accepted.

The United States Justice Foundation describes itself as “a nonprofit public interest, legal action organization dedicated to instruct, inform and educate the public on, and to litigate, significant legal issues confronting America.” The issues they regard as significant span the conservative spectrum from reverse discrimination to taxation to term limits. They litigated on behalf of lobbyists who opposed the Clinton Health Care Task Force in 1994.

The executive director of the USJF is Gary Kreep. His biography reveals that he is the general counsel to the racist, anti-immigration group, The Minutemen. He has been affiliated with the radical and violent anti-choice group, Operation Rescue. He was a California delegate to the Republican National Conventions in 1976 and 1980.

Most recently Kreep has been a leader of the “birther” movement that seeks to nullify last November’s election on the grounds that Obama is not a U.S. citizen. He has been one of the most vocal proponents of the birther myths going back to at least November 2008, when he tried to prevent California delegates to the Electoral College from casting their votes. He originally worked with birther queen, Orly Taitz, representing several clients, including Alan Keyes. He has since replaced Taitz as counsel to birther litigant “Rev.” Wiley Drake. Drake is notable for publicly praying for the death of Obama. When a man like Drake selects you to represent him, over Orly Taitz, that is quite an endorsement.

Obviously Kreep is a far-right extremist and an enabler of some of the most dangerous and radical people and organizations in the country. But none of this portion of his resume is disclosed by the press when they help to promote his activities. That oversight needs to be corrected immediately. The urgency for this rests on more than just the potential for mischief from the DefendGlenn project. As noted above, any funds collected from the donation page on DefendGlenn is actually going directly to the USJF. So on the pretense of supporting Glenn Beck, money is being diverted to causes like the Minutemen, Operation Rescue, and efforts to advance the birther myths and to defeat health care reform. Infact, it might actually be Kreep’s sole intention to exploit the popularity of Beck, and the loyalty of his disciples, to further his other political objectives. Beck certainly has a broader fan base than the birthers or the USJF, and consequently, greater revenue potential.

It is important, therefore to apprise the media of the truth with regard to DefendGlenn the USJF, and Gary Kreep. Whenever we see a press citation of DefendGlenn as the opposite side of the Beck boycott debate, we must take the initiative to inform them of the facts. We cannot allow this front group for wacko rightists to successfully deceive the media and public.