Posted on 07/29/2009 12:06:19 PM PDT by 2ndDivisionVet
One of the very good local talk radio shows invited me to be on this morning to debate a "birther" on whether those who argue that Barack Obama is not a citizen, and therefore is ineligible to be President, should give it up. I do think they should give it up, but I haven't studied the issue closely and won't debate anything I haven't studied, so I declined the invitation.
It did get me thinking, though, about conspiracy theories in contemporary politics. The "birthers" are named after the "truthers," who believe that the World Trade Center wasn't knocked down by Islamic terrorists, but rather was blown up by President Bush, or Donald Rumsfeld, or the CIA, or someone. There are an astonishing number of "truthers" out there, including Minnesota's ex-Governor Jesse Ventura. The "truthers" made news here in Minnesota earlier this week, as Democratic Congressman Collin Peterson explained why he won't hold a town hall on health care by saying, "Twenty-five percent of my people believe the Pentagon and Rumsfeld were responsible for taking the Twin Towers down." He doesn't want to hear from his constituents because they're nuts, in other words. I don't know about the 25% figure--Peterson wasn't being literal--but it could possibly be low. "Trutherism" is remarkably common among Democrats.
Trutherism is insane on its face. The idea that any President or Secretary of Defense, Republican or Democratic, would or could carry out such a plot is crazy, as is the idea that such a vast conspiracy could be kept secret for years. Nor have I ever understood what role the Islamic terrorists and their hundreds of victims on the two hijacked airplanes played in the incident, according to the truthers. Maybe their presence on the scene was coincidental, like, for Leibniz, the smoke that rises from a burning cigar. (That's unfair to the philosopher, of course.)
Birtherism is nowhere near as crazy as trutherism. It isn't absurd to imagine that a politician who had one American and one non-American parent could learn, perhaps as an adult, that he was born abroad and therefore not a citizen after all, and try to cover up the fact. (I was surprised to learn, when I looked at the issue briefly during the campaign, that the law governing citizenship in these circumstances has changed over the years.) But there isn't any evidence that this is the case as to Obama, and a hospital in Honolulu has a birth certificate with his name and birth date on it. There is no point in scrutinizing the birth certificate with a microscope. It's over. Moreover, it's too late: any birther who seriously thinks that President Obama will someday be marched out of the White House by policemen, the *real* circumstances of his birth having been revealed, is as crazy as a truther.
So, birthers, give it a rest. Focus on President Obama's ideological errors and his many policy blunders. We conservatives are better than our opponents. Let's keep it that way.
I think he hit the nail on the head.
Typical useless idiot...”I have not studied the issue” Case closed.
Someone is reading my mind.
I hadn't heard that before. A Democratic congressman that basically admits a significant portion of his consitituency are ill-informed loons!
I'm sure he's also aware that 100% of those loons who actually voted, voted for him. And Obama.
We can do both, dummy.
Aha! This is what I thought when I saw Coulter and Debra Saunders come out with their "anti-birther" stuff. THIS IS THE ISSUE: "since it won't happen, we need to give up on the principle." It was much the same argument made by those who didn't want Clinton impeached---"We can't get a conviction, so we shouldn't bother." I still think there are holes in some of the birth certificate concerns, but they are rapidly being filled by further research. But the calls to "stop looking" are troubling indeed, and suggest that people know or at least deeply suspect that there is something "wrong" but also know that it will be a Constitutional crisis if and when officials are called upon to actually do something about it. THAT'S THE ISSUE. What do you do if your elected officials overwhelmingly decide they can't, or won't, enforce the Constitution?
Yet, he proceeded to write a lenghty article about what he knows nothing about. Typical for so called journalists of today.
He may have hit the nail on the headline, but...
Truther’s deny the evidence.
Birthers demand the evidence.
“Moreover, it’s too late: any birther who seriously thinks that President Obama will someday be marched out of the White House by policemen, the *real* circumstances of his birth having been revealed, is as crazy as a truther”
This is the real reason why some on the right attack us birthers. Not because the evidence of his citizenship is overwhelming. They fear a constitutional crisis, civil war and anarchy.
Not me. The Keynan Imposter must be stopped.
Saw this elsewhere yesterday, think about it... sound off it is what we come here for.
_______________________________
Here are some facts not being reported by the American media:
Obama has never released his actual birth certificate. He has released another document, often provided by state authorities in lieu of a birth certificate, called a “certificate of live birth”.
And that means the case is NOT closed!
The indisputable fact is that Obama has not released his birth certificate, which the state of Hawaii issues for all citizens born there. Instead, Obama’s Campaign Staff has only released his certificate of live birth from the state of Hawaii, which is a document that only offers a summarized version of the birth certificate.
During the 2008 presidential campaign, Obama could have put the matter to rest by releasing his actual birth certificate, which would show, among other things, the place of his birth and the doctor who performed the birth procedure. This information is NOT provided on the certificate of live birth.
As it stands, Obama IS THE ONLY PRESIDENT IN HISTORY whose birthplace is unknown to the public – a fact that would be stated on the ACTUAL birth certificate. Interestingly, his family has mentioned TWO DIFFERENT HOSPITALS in Hawaii as the place of birth.
Obama’s refusal to release his birth certificate means that Obama has become America’s MOST MYSTERIOUS president ever. Obama, for example, has not released many other documents regarding his public and private life. Many of these documents were sought by reporters, who easily acquiesced when Obama said he would release them – though most presidential candidates release them as a perfunctory matter.
Among the key documents that continue to be shielded from the public by Obama:
1. Obama released just one brief document detailing his personal health. McCain, on the other hand, released what he said was his complete medical file, totaling more than 1,500 pages.
2. Obama refused to offer his official papers as a state legislator in Illinois. Nor did he produce correspondence, such as his schedules of appointments or letters from lobbyists, from his days in the Illinois state Senate.
3. Obama did not release his client list as an attorney or his billing records. He maintained that he performed only a few hours of legal work for a nonprofit organization with ties to Tony Rezko, the Chicago businessman convicted of fraud in June 2008, but did not release billing records that would prove this assertion.
4. Obama ignored requests for his records from Occidental College, where he studied for two years before transferring to Columbia University.
5. Obama’s campaign refused to give Columbia, where he earned an undergraduate degree in political science, permission to release his transcripts. Former President George W. Bush and presidential contenders Al Gore and John Kerry all released their college transcripts.
6. Obama did not agree to the release of his application to the Illinois State Bar, which would have cleared up intermittent allegations that his application may have been inaccurate.
7. Obama did not release records from his time at Harvard Law School. During the presidential campaign, McCain’s campaign released a full list of all online donors.
8. Obama’s campaign still has not released the names of those who donated at least one-third of the $750 million he raised. Ironically, Obama accused the Bush White House of being “one of the most secretive administrations in our history”…
So please don’t think that a Constitutional Crisis is impossible or even ludicrous. Kindly remember you’d think anyone INSANE if just eight years ago they predicted:
— cowardly Islamic attacks against America on September 11th, 2001 (to Hell with you Bill Maher), and of course,
— the succeding President being someone named Hussein…
STAND BY FOR HEAVY ROLLS AS OUR “SHIP OF STATE” COMES ABOUT!
Hey “Mr. President”… WHERE’S THE BIRTH CERTIFICATE?
Give it a rest birthers.
Give the “shuck and jivester” a mulligan on this wee technical point of Constitutional eligibility for the office of POTUS.
Surely he’ll keep his oath to preserve, protect and defend the... rest of the US Constitution. Right?
“I (fill in name) do solemnly swear that I will faithfully execute the office of President of the United States, and will to the best of my ability, preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States.”
WTH, why bother taking the oath at all from now on? Just move into the White House and rule the country. Why all this fuss over details?
It should be pretty clear now that this is an Alinksyite strategy similar to the campaigns against Rush and Palin and Obama's own comments about people in small towns getting "bitter" and "clinging to guns and religion." They have "fixed the target" again, only it's not Rush but those asking questions about Obama hiding his birth certificate.
More than likely this came out of the conference calls of Rahm, Begala, Carville, and Stephanopouloid again.
John has a lot in common with Obama, he first states he knows nothing about the subject on which he is about the speak with authority. LOL! What a nutter, just like our prez.
We are currently in the midst of the “polarization” step of the Alinsky method regarding the “birthers”, which is a term I am loathe to use.
All “birthers” will soon be the equivalent of nazis in the minds of liberals and moderates.
The attacks almost always start by dishonestly framing the question.
What people maligned as "birthers" are asking is, why won't Obama release his original 1961 birth certificate and his other records, such as his college transcripts and financial aid records?
Why do people like John Hinderaker place the burden of proof on ordinary Americans rather than on Obama?
We don't have all the relevant information, such as the original long-form birth certificate or his college application papers or his financial aid applications.
The evidence is incomplete, and Obama is the one concealing the missing evidence.
We are not "birthers," we are "disclosers"!!
Open the kimono, Obama!
Powerline, you should be adding your voice to those who demand that Obama become open and transparent about his records.
If he is a citizen, that's fine. Still, let's see the records!
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.