Just over a month ago, Esquire Magazine’s Mark Warren published an item on the magazine’s Politics blog titled, “BREAKING: Jerome Corsi’s Birther Book Pulled from Shelves!” Warren’s piece was a subtle, yet easily detectable fake item that very specifically satirized the spirit of Corsi’s Where’s The Birth Certificate?, in that, if Corsi could get away with selling obvious lies to people too dumb to know any better, why couldn’t Esquire? The whole matter might have remained just a blip in the universe of political satire, but it so aggrieved Corsi and WorldNetDaily CEO Joseph Farah, that they intimated that they would consider legal action against Esquire for making them the butt of a joke. And now that threat has been delivered upon: the pair have filed suit against the magazine, Warren, and Esquire’s parent company, Hearst Corp. Forbes blogger Jeff Bercovici has all the gory details (“the full amount sought totals more than $285 million”) and a copy of the suit itself.
I don’t know about you, but there are few things I continue to find more uproariously humorous than birthers. These unmedicated, facts-be-damned-it’s-all-a-conspiracy-anyway trolls continue to insist that President Obama wasn’t born in the US, therefore making his Presidency null and void. That the President and the State of Hawaii have presented short AND long-form birth certificates that conclusively demonstrate that the President was in fact born in Hawaii has barely diminished the prosecutorial zeal of these idjits.
People like Orly Taitz and Jerome Corsi seem to neither understand nor care that the facts aren’t on their side. Thanks to outlets like WorldNet Daily, Human Events, and Fox Noise Channel, a few birthers have managed to create an entire cottage industry out of sheer, unmedicated wingnuttery. More than a few folks, myself among them, have milked birtherism for its undeniable comic relief and entertainment value- unfair, perhaps, but I’ll take my yuks where I can get ‘em, knowhutimean?
‘Course, there are a few truisms in life- death, taxes, and the fact that wingnuts get their humor gland removed at an early age. Corsi in particular seems preternaturally incapable of recognizing that, since he traffics in lies to an audience of drooling sycophants who care nothing for truth and even less for decency, he’s prime satire material.
What I find fascinating and infinitely humorous is that, according to one of the lawyers for the plaintiff:
Farah and Corsi claim that “the article succeeded…in interfering with their ability to sell books through Barnes & Noble, Amazon, Tower and other retailers. The plaintiffs also say that Warren’s parody exposed them to ‘extreme ridicule in the community where they reside and where their works are viewed and read.’”
Extreme ridicule? Well, duh…. What’s not to ridicule? Corsi is trying to sell books attempting to convince intellectually challenged racists that the President isn’t a “real” American. That in and of itself would seem the very definition of satire, no? And, truth be told, it’s not as if Corsi is actually even experiencing any sort of difficulties with selling his racist trash. The beautiful thing about what Corsi’s doing is that he’s preaching to a choir already predisposed to racism, slander, and epic, almost incomprehensible and unfathomable ignorance. I mean, ferchrissakes, y’all…Corsi’s tour de farce was #14 on the New York Times bestseller list…which only goes to demonstrate my point, I suppose. There really ARE a lot of people who care little for facts and even less for the truth. They believe what they believe…and they’re not about to let a few inconvenient facts get in their way.
Ooo…does this mean that I can now expect a Cease & Desist letter? Oh, pleasepleaseplease…I have SO little excitement in my life these days….
So now Corsi’s suing Esquire because his feelings were hurt? Because a publication that actually cares about facts and truth took him to task for his sloppy, anti-intellectual, racist trash? Cry me a freakin’ river….
Ignorance can be mildly entertaining. ABSOLUTE ignorance is…well, kinda fun, really. Those engaging in it are more often than not convinced of their absolute moral, ideological, and theological superiority. And there are few things I find more thoroughly entertaining the boundless, unmedicated zealotry.
Party on, Garth….
