Tim Murphy

Reporter

Tim Murphy is a reporter in MoJo's DC bureau. Last summer he logged 22,000 miles while blogging about his cross-country road trip for Mother Jones. His writing has been featured in Slate and the Washington Monthly. Email him with tips and insights at tmurphy [at] motherjones [dot] com.

Get my RSS | Follow @timothypmurphy

Rutherford B. Hayes Speaks!

—By Tim Murphy

| Fri Oct. 22, 2010 3:00 AM PDT

Earlier this week, I introduced you to Obama's unlikeliest 2012 challenger (well, other than the Naked Cowboy): Rutherford B. Hayes, a Navy veteran and high-school dropout who's the chief financial officer of Miss Liberty America, the first and only Tea Party beauty pageant. Yesterday, I spoke with Hayes about his campaign.

The first thing Rutherford Bert Hayes makes clear to me is that he is absolutely not related to the disgraced and undemocratically-elected nineteenth president, Rutherford Birchard Hayes. Nor is he even named for the man known to his contemporaries as "Rutherfraud." "It is a coincidence," he says. "Obviously, my dad is a Hayes. But my mother was not, obviously. And her grandpa was named Rutherford. And so it was just a coincidence, because she loved her grandfather, that she named me Rutherford. And then the last name just followed. The nineteenth president, his name was Birchard. And I'm glad I didn't get that. I had enough problems with the name Bert as a kid. You know like, 'Hey Bert, where's Ernie?'"

Hayes is not a Birchard; he is, however, something of a birther: "My birth certificate is Rutherford B. Hayes. That is my real name. And I do have a birth certificate." He explains later in our conversation, "I just kind of put that in there as a jab because [Obama's] had issues with his birth certificate. And the first thing he did when he was in office was seal his records. I mean, I don't kow all the aspects of this stuff, but there have been things that I've seen that definitely question it."

[Read more in the MoJo blog]

Advertise on MotherJones.com

What Time's "American Journey" Missed

—By Tim Murphy

| Wed Oct. 20, 2010 5:03 AM PDT

Photo/Tim MurphyUnbeknown to me, while I was finishing up my own 43-state road trip, Joe Klein was doing more or less the same thing for Time. Klein hit 12 states and nearly 7,000 miles over nearly a month, which he wrote up for the magazine's cover story last week. There's plenty of good color in there, but his takeaway seems woefully deaf:

I found the same themes dominant everywhere — a rethinking of basic assumptions, a moment of national introspection. There was a unanimous sense that Washington was broken beyond repair.

Klein's big revelation is—I hope you're sitting down—that to people in "the middle of the country," the main concern "our politicians aren't talking about in an angry and anxious election season" is jobs. Who knew?

Get Religion's Terry Mattingly calls BS:

So here's the news: The angst and the rampant anger that is making America such a dangerous place right now are completely rooted in secular, faith-free issues. There are no cultural, moral or religious issues at play at the moment. And there will be no wave of post-election data from the Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life that demonstrates, once again, that frequent visits to pews or sanctuaries have anything to do with how Americans make their decisions when they pull levers in voting booths.

[Read more in the MoJo blog]

Rutherford B. Hayes, Tea Partier

—By Tim Murphy

| Wed Oct. 20, 2010 4:00 AM PDT

Photo/Wikimedia Commons Photo Courtesy of the University of Texas at AustinMeet your 45th president, America. He's the same as the 19th, really, only without the beard.

That would be 2012 candidate Rutherford B. Hayes (no relation to the former president), a Gulf War veteran-turned-businessman and as of today, aspiring leader of the free world. He's also something of a Tea Partier; according to his website, Hayes's most important order of business in Washington will be to weed out "socialists, communists, and marxists, as well as sensatiable[sic] condescending egos." Time permitting, he'll get us out of Afghanistan, institute a 10-percent flat tax, withdraw from the United Nations, return to the gold standard, abolish the IRS, fire all teachers who "indoctrinate children," and undo the core tenets of his predecessor's "unconstitutional" health care reform.

Whether the (kind of) famous name will be an asset or a liability, though, remains to be seen —Hayes was, after all, swept into office with the help of a systematic vote-suppression scheme and a series of backroom deals; "Rutherfraud" was like the 1870s answer to "Nobama," except all of the allegations were true.

Hayes—the living one—has not responded to MoJo's requests for comment, but we'll let you know when he does. In the meantime, he seems to be keeping busy. According to his website, he's currently the Chief Financial Officer for "Miss Liberty America," believed to be the first-ever Tea Party beauty paegant. Except it's so, so much more than that:

The contestants will be judged in categories of personal interview, swimsuit, evening gown, beauty, talent, questions regarding the documents of America's founding fathers, and Marksmanship! This will be the first pageant of its kind to introduce competency in the handling, safety and use of firearms, and CPR! The contestants must be able to save a life as well as defend one!

[Read more in the MoJo blog]

Last Thoughts on the Uncharted Lands Beyond the Tea Party News Cycle

—By Tim Murphy

| Fri Oct. 15, 2010 2:00 PM PDT

Lower Ninth Ward Village Community Center, New Orleans (Photo: Tim Murphy).San Francisco, California—Now that I'm back in the Bay Area and somewhat settled, I've started to get The Question. Usually there's some sort of buildup, maybe a few softballs to butter me up—"what's the weirdest place you went?" (without hesitation: far west Texas); "Do you like being back?" (occasionally); "Are you broke?" (yes, buy my car). And then it comes, politely, maybe a little earnestly: "What did you learn?"

Focus on the Family's Parallel Pop Culture

—By Tim Murphy

| Sat Oct. 9, 2010 11:00 AM PDT

Focus: James Dobson may have been forced out of Focus on the Family last winter, but his presence is still felt at the Colorado Springs headquarters (Photo: Tim Murphy). Focus: James Dobson Sr. is a constant presence at Focus on the Family's Colorado Springs headquarters (Photo: Tim Murphy).

Colorado Springs, Colorado—In the visitor center at Bob Jones University, you may recall, there was a portrait of the school's founder dressed as Shylock from Merchant of Venice. Well, Focus on the Family has a thing for Rembrandts. Or faux Rembrandts, rather. There are a half dozen of them, filling an entire wall at the organization's Colorado Spring headquarters.

In fact, the salient feature of the Focus on the Family visitors center is the extent to which everything there seems to mimic something entirely different.