Posted on 08/25/2012 9:48:57 AM PDT by moneyrunner
Romney’s birth certificate joke is incredible because it works on so many levels. Ann Althouse says:
Romney is saying — in so many words — I'm more truly and fundamentally American than Barack Obama. And the implication is: I want you to think about the ways that Obama hasn't fully embraced American values of freedom, capitalism, etc. etc.
Glenn Reynolds tweeted: "Romney joke not about birth cert. Way of reminding people of Obama's post-American approach to presidency. Will work."
The MSM is believes it’s a gaffe. Jan Crawford of CBS: "At Romney event, two reactions to his birth certificate joke: reporters gasped--and a crowd of thousands laughed and cheered."
Last night on FOX’s Special Report the liberal columnist for the Washington Post, Charles Lane, called it “tasteless,” “awkward” and an “unforced error.” ...
Lane apparently feels that there’s nothing funny about Barack Obama. He told Romney to play nice, leaving the jokes, mudslinging, distortions, lies and to the Obama camp (although he will never characterize them as that). They are so dim that they may think that Romney tried to appeal to the “Birthers.” That’s the problem with the MSM, they think they’re sophisticates, but they are not. They fall for bumper sticker slogans and the Cro-Magnon-crude political lies of the Democrats. You have to be stupid to do that, and their acceptance of it is proof.
And keep in mind that until he decided to run for President, Obama claimed to have been born in Kenya. ...
Question for Charles Lanes: was this just an unforced error? Or was it the sort of claim that Elizabeth Warren made to appear more "authentic" or exotic? This bio was around for 15 years even as Obama was collecting millions in royalties from his semi-fictional books. Awkward, isn't it? The MSM knows what to do with Obama's awkward gaffes: it ignores them. Oh, that's just Obama being Obama .... moving on.
Romney is reinforcing many people’s feeling that Obama really isn’t “American” in the same way that even many immigrants who came to America quickly became assimilated. They believed in America’s freedoms, its promise for a bright future, its exceptionalism. Obama doesn’t believe that America is special. He has said as much. In fact, he believes that America is fundamentally flawed and it is his destiny to change America in a such a way that people born a century ago would not recognize it, and people born a century from now would despise the way we were.
The Venus, 12 U.S. 8 Cranch 253 253 (1814)
Vattel, who, though not very full to this point, is more explicit and more satisfactory on it than any other whose work has fallen into my hands, says: “The citizens are the members of the civil society; bound to this society by certain duties, and subject to its authority, they equally participate in its advantages. The natives or indigenes are those born in the country of parents who are citizens. Society not being able to subsist and to perpetuate itself but by the children of the citizens, those children naturally follow the condition of their fathers, and succeed to all their rights.
Shanks v. Dupont, 28 U.S. 3 Pet. 242 242 (1830)
Ann Scott was born in South Carolina before the American revolution, and her father adhered to the American cause and remained and was at his death a citizen of South Carolina. There is no dispute that his daughter Ann, at the time of the Revolution and afterwards, remained in South Carolina until December, 1782. Whether she was of age during this time does not appear. If she was, then her birth and residence might be deemed to constitute her by election a citizen of South Carolina. If she was not of age, then she might well be deemed under the circumstances of this case to hold the citizenship of her father, for children born in a country, continuing while under age in the family of the father, partake of his national character as a citizen of that country. Her citizenship, then, being prima facie established, and indeed this is admitted in the pleadings, has it ever been lost, or was it lost before the death of her father, so that the estate in question was, upon the descent cast, incapable of vesting in her? Upon the facts stated, it appears to us that it was not lost and that she was capable of taking it at the time of the descent cast.
Dred Scott v. Sandford, 60 U.S. 393 (1857)
The citizens are the members of the civil society; bound to this society by certain duties, and subject to its authority, they equally participate in its advantages. The natives, or natural-born citizens, are those born in the country, of parents who are citizens. As society cannot perpetuate itself otherwise than by the children of the citizens, those children naturally follow the condition of their parents, and succeed to all their rights.' Again: 'I say, to be of the country, it is necessary to be born of a person who is a citizen; for if he be born there of a foreigner, it will be only the place of his birth, and not his country. . . .
Minor v. Happersett , 88 U.S. 162 (1875)
The Constitution does not in words say who shall be natural-born citizens. Resort must be had elsewhere to ascertain that. At common law, with the nomenclature of which the framers of the Constitution were familiar, it was never doubted that all children born in a country of parents who were its citizens became themselves, upon their birth, citizens also. These were natives or natural-born citizens, as distinguished from aliens or foreigners. Some authorities go further and include as citizens children born within the jurisdiction without reference to the citizenship of their parents. As to this class there have been doubts, but never as to the first.
United States v. Wong Kim Ark, 169 U.S. 649 (1898)
At common law, with the nomenclature of which the framers of the Constitution were familiar, it was never doubted that all children, born in a country of parents who were its citizens, became themselves, upon their birth, citizens also. These were natives, or natural-born citizens, as distinguished from aliens or foreigners.
Perkins v. Elg, 307 U.S. 325 (1939),
was a decision by the Supreme Court of the United States that a child born in the United States to naturalized parents on U.S. soil is a natural born citizen and that the child's natural born citizenship is not lost if the child is taken to and raised in the country of the parents' origin, provided that upon attaining the age of majority, the child elects to retain U.S. citizenship "and to return to the United States to assume its duties." Not only did the court rule that she did not lose her native born Citizenship but it upheld the lower courts decision that she is a "natural born Citizen of the United States" because she was born in the USA to two naturalized U.S. Citizens.
But the Secretary of State, according to the allegation of the bill of complaint, had refused to issue a passport to Miss Elg 'solely on the ground that she had lost her native born American citizenship.' The court below, properly recognizing the existence of an actual controversy with the defendants [307 U.S. 325, 350] (Aetna Life Ins. Co. v. Haworth, 300 U.S. 227 , 57 S.Ct. 461, 108 A.L.R. 1000), declared Miss Elg 'to be a natural born citizen of the United States' (99 F.2d 414) and we think that the decree should include the Secretary of State as well as the other defendants. The decree in that sense would in no way interfere with the exercise of the Secretary's discretion with respect to the issue of a passport but would simply preclude the denial of a passport on the sole ground that Miss Elg had lost her American citizenship."
The Supreme Court of the United States has never applied the term “natural born citizen” to any other category than “those born in the country of parents who are citizens thereof”.
Great example of the great disconnect between the "news" media and the people.
When I heard that right away I thought what Zero hasn’t disclosed...MSM reporting that as a “gaffe” is spin.
The joke also simply points to the notion that Obama posted a fraudulent birth certificate on the internet. That should be noticed but it doesn’t seem to matter to the LSM. Romney could throw out these jokes for quite some time. e.g. I’m using a Social Security number issued only to me,...
Great! This was a veiled reminder to Obama to STFU about the taxes for ten years when he has so many skeletons in his closet. And the way they squeal means they got the message, loud and clear.
ping Romney joke re: BC
It seems incredible to me that the news media still doesn’t realize that it needs the people more than the people need the media. There is an incredible arrogance that is built up in people when their words are distributed to thousands and their images to hundreds of thousands or millions. It’s the same way with public speakers who draw a psychological boost from the audience. They don’t realize that if the audience doesn’t love them, the audience leaves … or throws rotten tomatoes.
It was an affirmation that so, so many people in this country realize this President is a fake American, whether he was actually born in this country or not.
The fact that so many question his origin is endorsed by much of the incomprehensible actions he's taken and the behavior he's displayed.
“.....my Muslim faith....” [corrected by little Georgie Stephanoplis to ..my christian faith). “The sweetest sound.....” [Obama commenting on the Muslim call to prayer in Indonesia], bowing to any and every Muslim, Communist and Arab potentate he meets, and denigrating Israel and its leaders any chance he gets....
Mitt is reaffirming this country's innate feeling that there is “just something not right about Obama - he's not an American at heart.”
What we need are Senators and Reps on video answering a couple questions like: What is a natural born citizen? Was Obama ever a citizen of Indonesia? How bout that Minor vs. Happersett case which defined a natural born citizen as born of ‘parents’ not parent? I’m doing my part;) Maybe during this summer recess a couple other Freepers could do it to?
All jokes have their origins in truth...
The MSM spinmeisters are almost universally calling it a gaffe. It’s their way of coping with the fact that they can’t come to terms with the fact that more and more people realize that Obama doesn’t really like America. He does not wish her well unless he can remake her in his image. Think Hitler in the bunker telling his remaining followers that the Germans let him down and deserve to lose because of it.
Well said.
“.....my Muslim faith....” [corrected by little Georgie Stephanoplis to ..my christian faith). “The sweetest sound.....” [Obama commenting on the Muslim call to prayer in Indonesia], bowing to any and every Muslim, Communist and Arab potentate he meets, and denigrating Israel and its leaders any chance he gets....
Mitt is reaffirming this country’s innate feeling that there is “just something not right about Obama - he’s not an American at heart.”
Well stated.
Your reminders of his gaffes would have had the MSM up in arms if that person were a Republican
All Romney has to do when asked about it is “Where in this did I mention Mr Obama?” “You are the ones who brought that up, so, what is the reason?”
This is designed to get under Obama’s very, very thin skin. Remember that he passed himself off as having been born in Kenya. Before running for President, that was a plus – he was something exotic, like Elizabeth Warren pretending to be part Indian. His origins and the people, places and things that shaped him growing up have never been fully explored. I believe that the new movie “2016” does that.
Getting OFA and the media to squeal is also an end in itself. By throwing out a lightharded jab and having the President’s supporters wave it around like a bloody shirt, it helps reinforce the perception of a personality cult.
I have to warn Romney that, if he tells another Hussein birther joke, I will feel compelled to send him a check.
This is designed to get under Obama’s very, very thin skin.
It will be interesting in the preezy debates if Romney can push a few of Obama’s buttons and see him implode on national tv...
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