Saturday, September 17, 2016

The Birther of a nation by a basket of deplorables


Why is “Birther” a subject when months ago we were told that Ted Cruz is a natural born citizen because he was born from an American uterus in Canada?

Once again the media has manufactured a controversy out of thin air, a controversy that is meaningless because just months ago Americans were told an American woman’s uterus is an American territory.  We were told Ted Cruz, born in Canada to a Cuban father and American mother was a natural born citizen because he came out of an American’s uterus.  So what’s going on?

Follow the shiny object

Why are American’s attention being diverted by the media with the birther issue?  The Guardian has obtained documentation of massive corruption in Wisconsin from the governor, to the legislature to the state supreme court.  Corruption so pervasive it has the potential to blow apart Citizens United, so voila Birtherism is reborn.

The corruption of Scott Walker and Club for Growth

The Guardian has uncovered a mountain of corruption, election fraud, cronyism and conflict of interest that took place in Wisconsin during Walker and the GOP’s 2011 recall election.  The documents are the result of a John Doe probe into Walker and Wisconsin Club for Growth, a probe that was shut down by Walker’s state supreme court in 2015.  What does that have to do with birther rebirth?  Donald Trump’s financial advisor is Stephen Moore, the founder of Club for Growth.  What better way to divert attention than to bring back the birther issue, and smear both Trump and Clinton at the same time.

Corruption in the Dismal Dairyland

In 2011 when Walker was facing a recall he needed cash so his main fundraiser, Kate Doner devised a plan to go after “corporate” money.  She advised Walker to “Take Koch’s money. Get on a plane to Vegas and sit down with Sheldon Adelson. Ask for $1m now.”  And the money poured in, not to Walker’s campaign but into the dark money group Wisconsin Club for Growth.  By funneling the cash through the CFG, Walker didn’t have to disclose who was financing his campaign.

A John Doe probe was launched into the possible campaign finance violations between the Walker campaign and the CFG.  Then in July 2015 the state’s Supreme Court ordered the termination of the investigation before any charges could be brought.  The Walker majority on the court, all of whom received significant campaign contributions from Club for Growth declared Walker and CFG “wholly innocent of any wrongdoing”.  They went even further ordering the prosecutors to “permanently destroy all copies of information and other materials obtained through the investigation.”

A real basket of deplorables


WI prosecutors have appealed the decision to the US Supreme Court and it is currently pending.  The documents leaked to the Guardian contain the substance of the case for the appeal.  It consists of email exchanges between Walker, his advisers, Republican leaders and major donors, one of which was coincidentally was Donald Trump.  The crux of the case before the US high court is, the GOP members of the WI high court were required to recuse themselves.  


What’s the precedence?  In 2009 in the case Caperton vs Massey Coal, the US high court found “if there is a serious risk of bias, such in that case where a party to the litigation who makes a substantial contribution to a judge, under 14th Amendment due process a judge is required to recuse themselves.” In Wisconsin all of the GOP judges were bankrolled by Wisconsin Club for Growth.  The justices should have recused themselves.  Thus the Birther issue has once again reared its ugly head.  



By Patricia Baeten

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