Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act

This is the text of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, known by its detractors as Obamacare. Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PDF)

What we're up against/The Art of the Link Bomb

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

As Rachel Maddow so brilliantly describes in this video clip, trying to have an intelligent two-way, factual conversation with someone who gets all of his information from within the right-wing echo chamber is a serious challenge. You get to the point where s/he will consider any perceived challenge to the illusion in which s/he is a willing participant will cause that person to either shut down or launch into a general ad hominem attack on you. What can you do when you are dealing with somebody unwilling to take facts for an answer? You link bomb their posts.

Link bombing simply means you take rebuttal source links and post them after the article/post in question. You don't discuss the links or continue any conversation you were having with the other person. Let the links do the talking. Even if that person does not read the information, anybody else who reads the post and comments later will read them. By appearing calm and reasonable while the other person rants and attacks, you have created credibility for those new readers.

Our job should be to plant seeds in the minds of the reader. We can't change their minds for them.

Rebuttals to Obamas and Law Licenses

The latest claim from the Birther crowd (from 2008 but making a comeback) is that Barack and Michelle Obama surrendered their law licenses in the state of Illinois "one step ahead of the law", citing misunderstood (perhaps deliberately) entries in the Illinois State Bar database and misrepresenting what Michelle did prior to becoming First Lady.

Here's an article to give some background on the claim: It Starts: Smear Campaign Makes Bogus Claims About Obamas Notice that the "authority" to the claim is anonymous and we're just supposed to take his word for it.

Snopes rebutted this argument back in 2010. snopes.com: Barack and Michelle's Law Licenses If you have somebody claiming Snopes is "pro-Democrat" or that "Soros owns Snopes" or other nonsense, use the links found here.

Rebuttals to Snopes Being Owned by Soros, et al.

About Snopes.com

Q: Is Snopes.com run by "very Democratic" proprietors? Did they lie to discredit a State Farm insurance agent who attacked Obama?

A: A chain e-mail that "exposed" Snopes contains falsehoods. And in fact, the site is run by someone who has no political party affiliation and his non-voting Canadian wife. A State Farm spokeswoman confirms what they reported about the Obama-baiting agent.

FactCheck.org: Snopes.com

Rebuttals to President Obama's Vacation Days

Hypocrisy Alert: Boehner Says Obama AWOL, Campaigning Too Much

Rebuttals to Common Anti-Obama Images

Rebuttals to Republican Candidate Mitt Romney (Articles/Images)

Where Romney Outsourced American Jobs and Invested Overseas

Mitt Romney: 99 Facts

What Are Mitt Romney's Qualifications?

What Can We Expect from a Romney Administration?
Norquist: Romney Will Do As Told --David Frum

Rebuttals to Republican Candidate Mitt Romney (Video)

Rebuttals to Attacks on ACA/"Obamacare"

The Republican Party has long embraced the Individual Mandate, including adding it to their alternative health care reform bill in 1993. In fact, they championed it up until the moment President Obama included it in his Affordable Care Act, then it became "unconstitutional".
Republicans Spurn Once-Favored Health Mandate

Rebuttals to "Evil" Iran

"Wiped Off the Map"--The Rumor of the Century

Rebuttals to Birthers

President Obama's Long Form Birth Certificate--Official White House Website

Snopes.com: Barack Obama Birth Certificate

The Barack Obama Long Form Birth Certificate: Response to Zebest Excellent technical analysis of common Birther argument that electronic copy of President Obama's 2011 release of his long form birth certificate was a "forgery" based on the OCR. Shows how Mara Zebest's argument is flawed. This link is also useful for rebutting investigation by Sheriff Arapio's office.

Full Snopes Website Listing for Barack Obama This link has rebuttals to debunk the most common Birther, racist, ABO arguments, email forwards, reposts, etc.

Rebuttals to Evolution "debunked"

Evolution is a fact. We know it happens. It is also a theory, just like gravity and germ-based transmission of disease. In science, "facts" and "theories" aren't different rungs on some certainty ladder. They describe different things. Facts describe measurable, observable bits of data. Theories form an framework to explain how the facts came about. So repeat; evolution is a fact. This is not arguable. The theory part is the explanation of how one species can evolve into another. This can never be a fact, and it never needs to be one. It can be modified as new facts are learned. Another example is gravity. We know that when an apple breaks off a branch, it falls towards the earth. This is a fact. Why does this happen? That part is a theory - for which there is probably 10,000x less evidence and facts to support it than evolution.

Theories also don't "graduate" into scientific laws. This is another common misunderstanding of how science works, often deliberately manipulated by certain groups to add weight to empty arguments. A scientific law is a statement that explains what something does in science. A scientific law must always apply under the same conditions, and implies a causal relationship between its elements. The law must be confirmed and broadly agreed upon through the process of inductive reasoning. As well, factual and well-confirmed statements like "Mercury is liquid at standard temperature and pressure" are considered to be too specific to qualify as scientific laws. Law differs from a scientific theory in that it does not posit a mechanism or explanation of phenomena: it is merely a distillation of the results of repeated observation. As such, a law is limited in applicability to circumstances resembling those already observed, and is often found to be false when extrapolated. Ohm's law only applies to linear networks, Newton's law of universal gravitation only applies in weak gravitational fields, the early laws of aerodynamics such as Bernoulli's principle do not apply in case of compressible flow such as occurs in transonic and supersonic flight, Hooke's law only applies to strain below the elastic limit, etc. The term "scientific law" is traditionally associated with the natural sciences, though the social sciences also contain laws.An example of a scientific law in social sciences is Zipf's law. Laws can become obsolete if they are found in contradiction with new data, as with Bode's law or the biogenetic law.~Judith Maryse

Butterfly Unlocks Evolution Secret

A Work in Progress

Okay, I've got the links transferred from the original IPP doc and I've added a few more. If you have any suggestions for links or if you believe more sections should be added, please let me know. I am planning on adding a section for Willard Romney in the coming week, as he is the presumptive Republican nominee.

For Reference

Republican Dictionary

Wingnut Debate Dictionary

Kossary

Butterfly Unlocks Evolution Secret

Project Vote Smart A good source for finding your rep's voting record

Progressive Information Project: Online Progressive Radio and Video A good list of multimedia links for Progressives, including internet radio stations

Thinking about what you are saying

Five words and phrases Democrats should never say again

Rebuttals to Voter ID Laws and Voter Fraud

Voter Suppression 101





Diebold: The Face of Modern Ballot Tampering

Electronic Voting: Arguments in Favor

Electronic Voting: Arguments Against

The BRAD BLOG: GOP Voter Registration Firm Turns in Thousands of "Invalid" Registration Forms in California This one is good for rebutting standard anti-ACORN arguments by ideologues because it shows true voter registration fraud.

Rebuttals to Bush Family and Connections

Truth or Hustle: The Bush Record

Rebuttals to U.S. Being a Christian Theocracy

Treaty of Tripoli
"Art. 11. As the Government of the United States of America is not, in any sense, founded on the Christian religion,—as it has in itself no character of enmity against the laws, religion, or tranquility, of Mussulmen [Muslims],—and as the said States never entered into any war or act of hostility against any Mahometan [Muslim] nation, it is declared by the parties that no pretext arising from religious opinions shall ever produce an interruption of the harmony existing between the two countries."

Does the 1796-97 Treat of Tripoli Matter to Church/State Separation?

Joel Barlow and the Treaty with Tripoli

Our Godless Constitution

Little-Known Document Signed by President Adams Proclaims America's Government is Secular

U.S. Constitution, No Religious Test Clause
"The clause is cited by advocates of separation of church and state as an example of "original intent" of the Framers of the Constitution of avoiding any entanglement between church and state, or involving the government in any way as a determiner of religious beliefs or practices. This is significant because this clause represents the words of the original Framers, even prior to the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment."

Rebuttals to Citizens United

Six Pathetic Right-Wing Attempts to Defend the Indefensible Citizens United (Debunked)

The Hard Truth About Citizens United

Supreme Court to Re-Examine its Citizens United Ruling

Rebuttals to Reagan Hagiographies

Remember Reagan (conclusion): Reaganomics

The GOP Myth About Small Government, Shattered with One Simple Chart