Political Mudslingers Populate Far-Right Miami Conference
MIAMI, Fla. 鈥 Self-described 鈥渂irther king鈥 and (WND) founder said today that he thinks one or two states will pass legislation in the next year requiring presidential candidates to provide irrefutable proof that they are U.S. citizens in order to have their names placed on those states鈥 ballots. If that happens, Farah predicted, Obama won鈥檛 seek reelection in 2012. That鈥檚 because there is something 鈥渉ideously embarrassing鈥 in Obama鈥檚 background.
Farah鈥檚 soothsaying came during a question-and-answer session during the first day of a three-day conference he put together in Miami called 鈥淭aking America Back 2010鈥 (the day after the conference ends, Farah and other far-right stalwarts will be hosting a similar event, this one on board a Caribbean cruise). A prayer that kicked off the conference today thanked God for Farah鈥檚 right-wing, conspiracy-minded WND. Later, one of the speakers thanked God for Farah. Farah, however, was far less interested in thanks than in the kind of political mudslinging for which he and several other conference attendees are well known.
Farah鈥檚 online publication 鈥 one of the 鈥渘ews鈥 pillars of the contemporary American far right 鈥 has repeatedly questioned whether Obama was born in the United States (if he wasn鈥檛, he could not legally serve as president). Of course, Obama has produced documents showing he was born in Hawaii, and that state鈥檚 Republican governor, along with a slew of news organizations, have vouched for his citizenship. But none of that has convinced Farah and his fellow travelers.
One of those fellow travelers, , is scheduled to speak at Farah鈥檚 conference Friday. A regular WND contributor and prolific producer of tendentious material, Corsi has written one book savaging Obama; another praising the anti-immigrant Minuteman movement; and a third, the most infamous, that 鈥淪wift-boated鈥 then-Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry. Corsi has also .
In his prepared remarks today, Farah didn鈥檛 touch on Obama鈥檚 birthplace. Instead, he devoted much of his speech to what he sees as the shortcomings of the conservative movement, and his dismay at the progress being made by gay rights proponents. 鈥淭he movement is simply not up to the task at hand,鈥 an exasperated Farah complained. He added that there are ongoing efforts by unnamed forces to limit the agenda of the Tea Party movement solely to economic issues 鈥 a grave mistake, according to Farah, who told his audience of some 90 people that the conservative movement had lost its bearings by not uniformly opposing same-sex marriage. 鈥淐onservatives don鈥檛 recognize sin when they see it,鈥 he said.
He cited right-wing attack dog , Americans for Tax Reform president Grover Norquist, Fox News commentator Glenn Beck and radio ranter Rush Limbaugh as examples of what he鈥檚 talking about. Farah recently withdrew his invitation for Coulter to speak at the Miami conference after learning that she was the headliner at an upcoming meeting of a gay Republican organization called GOProud. (Coulter, never one for niceties, responded by describing her erstwhile co-religionist as a 鈥減ublicity w----.鈥) Norquist serves on GOProud鈥檚 advisory council. Beck recently said gay marriage is not a threat to the country. Limbaugh favors civil unions, Farah added, and had Elton John perform at his wedding.
鈥淐onservatives aren鈥檛 fighting. They鈥檙e capitulating,鈥 Farah fumed. 鈥淭heir standards are being destroyed.鈥
He called U.S. District Judge Vaughn Walker 鈥渁 homosexual activist鈥 who 鈥渋mposed his own views on the electorate of California鈥 by ruling last month that that state鈥檚 Proposition 8 ballot denying marriage rights to same-sex couples was unconstitutional. 鈥淚 don鈥檛 think Americans can take much more of this tyranny,鈥 he said. Farah also criticized pastors who are silent on controversial social issues, such as same-sex marriage. And he wasn鈥檛 alone. Clergy who don鈥檛 speak out on the 鈥渃ulture war鈥 are 鈥淒r. Evil, and part of the problem,鈥 said another speaker, Doug Giles. Giles added that he wasn鈥檛 including Muslims in his criticism 鈥渂ecause if we take them on鈥︹ 鈥 and then he made a sound mimicking that of explosives going off. Later, referring to a , he said, 鈥淚slam is wanting to build a theme park at Ground Zero.鈥
Giles isn鈥檛 just another conservative South Florida minister and radio commentator. It was Giles鈥 daughter, Hannah, who famously pretended to be a prostitute in an undercover video filmed at ACORN offices that was used by conservatives to essentially destroy the liberal community organizing group. Giles鈥 other daughter has started a website called Girls Just Want to Have Guns.
Another speaker, Floyd Brown, led the audience in chants of 鈥淓nough is enough!鈥 Brown is president of a consulting company that is perhaps best known for introducing the racially charged Willie Horton television ad that badly damaged the campaign of Democratic presidential candidate Michael Dukakis in 1988. 鈥淥bama hates Christianity,鈥 Brown declared. 鈥淗e is a Muslim.鈥 The proof? Among other transgressions, the president has refused to attend the National Prayer Breakfast but celebrates Muslim holy days, Brown claimed. The media, for its part, is involved in a 鈥渃onspiracy of silence鈥 to conceal Obama鈥檚 hatred of Christianity, he charged.
Brown worked for the impeachment of President Bill Clinton, and now he advocates that the new Congress that convenes after the November elections impeach Obama for high crimes and misdemeanors. That broad term, he said, simply means bad behavior. The president, he claimed, wants the United States to fail so that the goals of an 鈥渋nternational socialist movement鈥 will be achieved. 鈥淏arack Obama is a very dangerous man,鈥 Brown declared. The past two years have been a 鈥渟low progression of what I鈥檒l call a bloodless coup.鈥
Many of the speakers today and for the remainder of 鈥淭aking America Back鈥 are from the religious right. One of them, a pastor named Gary Cass, decried the absence of God in politics. Secularism, he said, 鈥渟eeks to undermine the republic with arbitrary, man-made laws and rights. When will we cry out to God for his mercy on America?鈥
Outside the ballroom where the parades of speakers appeared, conference attendees could get books like The Homosexual Agenda signed, buy slogan-emblazoned T-shirts and jewelry, grab literature from groups advocating that parents pull their kids from public schools in favor of Christian schools, pick up petitions opposing the proposed Islamic center near Ground Zero, and much, much more.