25 Comments

1. tim maguire:

Egads! How did they get a Major to sign on to this stupidity?!? So embarrassing.

Since when does a president have to prove to each individual citizen’s satisfaction that he is eligible to be president? If they can get the State of Hawaii to say he wasn’t born there, then I’m on board with this whole thing. But until that time, good god! give it a rest.

Jul 14, 2009 - 9:21 am 2. Doug Mataconis:

Steve,

Orly Taitz has been taking double doses of crazy pills since Election Day, this is no surprise

Jul 14, 2009 - 9:27 am 3. Steve Ducharme:

If you’re interested in delegitimizing this president then there are plenty of… you know… ACTUAL FACTS out there to go by. There’s no need to don a tinfoil hat and start pointing to the black helicopters.

And talk about a career killer for a military officer…

Jul 14, 2009 - 10:00 am 4. mpw280:

Maybe if the NYT hadn’t started this by questioning McCain’s eligibility because he was born on a military base in the Panama Canal Zone it wouldn’t be a problem. Again it could all be cleared up by showing the actual birth certificate, but hey he is Obama and he is god so he doesn’t need to clarify that he was actually born in the USA after having his surrogates question his oppositions eligibility does he. Not a nirther but they have a point if you question your opponent you should cough up the actual paperwork yourself.

MPW

Jul 14, 2009 - 11:47 am 5. Casey:

Nice tu quoque, MPW. So this is all really Barry’s fault?

This moronic argument reminds me of the many silly claims made by the more rabid elements of the anti-war left against Bush, including the infamous “Bush lied, people died.”

When one asked for evidence that Dubya (or anyone else) lied, or knew about 9/11 beforehand, or so on, a favorite response was “prove me wrong!” To which I would reply “No, you make the charge, you have to prove you’re right.” So I’ll sit right here and wait for proof that Barry Obama isn’t an American citizen.

Idiot stunts like this just make conservatives look bad to the non-tribal voters.

Jul 14, 2009 - 11:57 am 6. Garrett:

Correct me if I’m wrong, but as long as one of Obama’s parents is a natural born citizen, the it doesn’t matter where the hell he was born. He is considered a natural born American. Since his mother was born in Kansas, this would seem to be a non-issue.

Jul 14, 2009 - 1:08 pm 7. Doug Mataconis:

mpw280,

Obama has produced the only official record of his birth that the State of Hawaii issues.

Jul 14, 2009 - 2:28 pm 8. mpw280:

Doug, I remember that he had a surrogate in the press issue a copy of something from the state of Hawaii, but a birth certificate with an official stamp that I can get from the state of Illinois in about 20 minutes was never posted anywhere by the campaign that I remember. Not that I paid too much attention as it was obvious that the press would never question his eligibility since it was in his pocket which was much more worrying to me. mpw

Jul 14, 2009 - 2:46 pm 9. Doug Mataconis:

mpw280,

The State of Hawaii has verified that the Certificate of Live Birth which the Obama campaign made available to the press last year is the ONLY certification of birth that the state of Hawaii issues:

http://bit.ly/CnB5t

Jul 14, 2009 - 3:16 pm 10. mad bikini blogger:

I’m actually pretty interested in this case. From what I understand, the “birth certificate” that Hawaii produced was a “fake”. For some reason, the gov there (a repubilcan.. strangely enough) has the real one under lock and key. I don’t know if he has pictures of her with sheep or what the deal is, but she won;t disclose the real one. This is just what i have heard and read.
Also, the fact that Obama traveled to restricted parts of the middle east in the 80’s, parts that were illegal to travel to on a US passport, would suggest that he travelled on a foreign passport, and the only way to get a foreign passport is to renounce your citizenship.
I dunno… I don’t like to be played… and I have believed all along that Obama is just the suit to do the talking for David Axelrod, since he’s too ugly to run for president himself… and we would put up a good conservative candidate, but none of the good ones will take the job.

Jul 14, 2009 - 4:47 pm 11. Doug Mataconis:

Okay, time to shoot down some more lies.

1. The State of Hawaii has verified that the Certification of Live Birth that Obama made available to the press last year is genuine.

2. The reason the “original” birth certificate is sealed is because Hawaii’s version of FOIA requires that it be sealed

3. Yes, Obama traveled to Pakistan in the 80s. No, it wasn’t illegal for American citizens to do so at the time.

Like Steve says above, oppose Obama because of his policies not because of something a bat-shit crazy lawyer like Orly Taitz or Phil Berg says

Jul 14, 2009 - 4:50 pm 12. mpw280:

As to the travel, he could use a Kenyan passport as his father was Kenyan and could have registered his child in Kenya and then obtained a passport, he also could have gotten one through his mother’s second husband in Indonesia. Either of those two passports would allow travel to some of the no go areas of the world. mpw

Jul 14, 2009 - 4:57 pm 13. Doug Mataconis:

And, mpw, what evidence do you have to support those assertions ?

Jul 14, 2009 - 5:03 pm 14. Garrett:

Since no one has corrected me, I’ll assume that I was right. That being the case, how about we attack Obama on the stupid shit he’s doing NOW, and not on some bullshit that no one is ever going to prove in a court of law?

Christ, how much ammunition do Republicans/anyone else with a brain need? The man and his allies are on the brink of destroying the economy/healthcare/national security/take your pick. Focus on what we might change and get the fuck off of stupid shit like this.

Jul 14, 2009 - 7:38 pm 15. Stephen Green:

What Garrett said.

Jul 14, 2009 - 7:40 pm 16. Doug Mataconis:

What Steve and Garrett said

Jul 14, 2009 - 9:44 pm 17. jon:

Although it may be allowable to concede that there is some question about what the exact birth requirements are for President, there really isn’t much to go by. Hawaii has a record, so that’s about the end of it. Whether or not McCain would have qualified isn’t 100% crystal clear wrapped with a bow and a signed certificate of authenticity, but I certainly don’t think there’s a good case against.

But what I really don’t understand is why some people really really want Joe Biden to be President. Sure, he’d probably be easier to beat than Obama. But the way things are lining up for the Republicans, a Kucinich/Grijalva ticket would probably beat the GOP’s best.

Jul 14, 2009 - 9:51 pm 18. jaymaster:

jon, are you drinking again?

Because I’m agreeing with you a lot today, for some reason…

Jul 14, 2009 - 10:50 pm 19. jaymaster:

And for the record, I don’t have a problem with stuff like this. Actually, I say bring it on!

I’m not sure exactly what polical group I am in right now, but I knw for sure I am in the “opposition”. I don’t think that nessearily makes me a Republican, but I will gladly allie with them if need be. And it appears need does be….

And I don’t understand while the R’s (and many L’s) are so willing to suspend the “rules” when it comes to the GWOT, but yet want to adhere (quaintly, it seems) to the “rules” when it comes to politicking. It seems just the opposite with the D’s. And in both cases, the “enemy” is aware of and willing to exploit that strength/weakness.

I don’t think it’s necessarily best to fight the other sides battle for them. My response would be something either : crickets. Or something like: “This guy seems a bit off to me. Kevin Drum, Andrew, TPM, HP, KOS, etc, how would YOU debate him?

And for the record, I don’t have a problem with stuff like this. Actually, I say bring it on! Free speech and idiots and all that.

I’m not sure exactly what political group I am in right now, but I know I am in the “opposition”. I don’t think that necessarily makes me a Republican, but I will gladly ally with them if need be. And it appears the need does be….

I don’t understand while the R’s (and many L’s) are so willing to suspend the “rules” when it comes to the GWOT, but yet want to adhere (quaintly, it seems) to the “rules” when it comes to politicking. It seems just the opposite with the D’s. And in both cases, the “enemy” is aware of and willing to exploit that choice.

And I don’t think it’s good to fight the other side’s battle for them. I think a better response is either: Crickets.,,, Or something like,“This guy seems a bit off to me. Kevin Drum, Andrew, TPM, HP, KOS, etc, how would YOU debate him?

Jul 14, 2009 - 11:14 pm 20. rosignol:

Correct me if I’m wrong, but as long as one of Obama’s parents is a natural born citizen, the it doesn’t matter where the hell he was born.

You are completely correct, sir. Being born inside the borders of the USA is *one* of the ways to be a US Citizen from birth, but it is not the only way.

Unfortunately, thanks to ‘anchor babies’, being born in the US is the way most people are familiar with.

Politically, the appeal of proving Obama is not a natural born US citizen is that if you could do it, he would immediately cease to be President. A lot of people would like this to happen (despite the prospect of President Biden).

It is not possible to prove that Obama is not a natural born US Citizen, because his mother was very clearly a US Citizen when he was born. The children of US Citizens are US Citizens regardless of where they are born.

Jul 15, 2009 - 3:38 am 21. mpw280:

Doug, as the father of four children with two passports apiece I am very familiar with the procedure of getting a birth certificate and passport for children born to parents of different nationalities. I know most of the people in the country wouldn’t understand it but I do. Mine happen to be South African/American and carry duals, which they are allowed to until they are 21, then they are supposed to give up their foreign and keep their US, which most don’t do. This allows for options on working and traveling abroad as certain passports carry certain privileges that may be desired at a later date. So for funs sake Obama could have been born ex-USA and then registered as a live birth to an American citizen, or he could have been born here and registered as a Kenyan and for the really fun one, he could have been born elsewhere and registered as a foreign born US citizen and as a foreign born Kenyan citizen. Two of those options are where the nirthers stand their ground as it would technically be illegal to be president of the US while born in a foreign country. As to McCain, he was born on a US military base to an active duty on assignment military officer, in this case the US military base if considered US soil the same as an embassy is considered US soil.

Now for the last fun part, the US military rescinded the orders for the Major that filed the action and this throws a whole new pile of fuel to the nirther fire. Again if Obama hadn’t had the NYT question McCain’s eligibility then there would be a whole lot less questions about Obama’s birth certificate which could again be solved by the long form being issued by the state of Hawaii.

But hey as you say there is enough shit to make stick to the wall with Overlord Obama’s shitty policies and abasement before the world. The man thinks he is above the position whereas in reality the position is way above him.

MPW

Jul 15, 2009 - 10:32 am 22. Casey:

Just found an interesting post about this mess over at Blackfive.

It seems the dilweed in question requested assignment to Afghanistan, then filed suit. (The orders were, by the way, rescinded) Uncle Jimbo put up this from the Army:

Earlier today, Quon said Cook submitted a formal written request to Human Resources Command-St. Louis on May 8, 2009 volunteering to serve one year in Afghanistan with Special Operations Command, U.S. Army Central Command, beginning July 15, 2009. The soldier’s orders were issued on June 9, Quon said.

“A reserve soldier who volunteers for an active duty tour may ask for a revocation of orders up until the day he is scheduled to report for active duty,” Quon said.

after which Jimbo observed

In short – Cook never had to go in the first place. Unlike most soldiers who deploy as part of a unit, Cook – a reservist – had volunteered to go as an individual augmentee. The Army generally seeks volunteers to fill such assignments first – if no one does so then a non-volunteer is tapped.

(emphasis in original)

Given this is true, it will make The Opposition (as jaymaster says) look even worse. Perhaps we should email dweebs like that and tell them to STOP HELPING.

Jul 15, 2009 - 12:07 pm 23. Redman:

How many people do you know who can’t produce their birth certificate?

Jul 15, 2009 - 1:55 pm 24. Casey:

Me, for one. And if you’ve read about this issue at all, you would know that Hawaii went paperless a while ago. There is no “master” copy.

The certificate the Obama HQ provided is what you get if you request a birth document from the state of Hawaii. If that’s not good enough for you, that’s your problem. The man has fulfilled all the legal requirements. End of story.

Now go find a real issue. Surely that’s not too difficult, with this administration?

Jul 15, 2009 - 7:28 pm 25. Below The Beltway » Blog Archive » The Mainstreaming Of Birther Insanity:

[...] for those of you who still think this an issue, I can’t come up with a better response than this guy: If you’ve read about this issue at all, you would know that Hawaii went paperless a while ago. [...]

Jul 17, 2009 - 8:30 am

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