I don’t think there’s anything funny about this, however, there are only so many avenues open to me, to frame what is taking place for what it is.
No, we have adopted third world nation’s tactics in this nation, and yet the Republicans see nothing wrong or any need to take action.
I just told another poster we may be witnessing the fall of the Western world. I don’t know what could be more telling that to realize we have a person sitting in the highest office in our nation, who still two years in can’t or won’t prove he is a natural born citizen.
And worse yet, every government entity in this nation is acting the part of a willing accomplice.
This is chaos, top to bottom, nationally, and internationally.
I got in contact with the office of the NE legislator who proposed an eligibility bill; I’m excited about the prospect of working with them to make it the best it can be and to see it become law.
What we agreed on very quickly is that this isn’t about Obama. This is about government credibility and the rule of law.
Anybody who sees the stupid games Obama and his pals are playing with national security on this issue and thinks it’s just a tee-hee distraction has no clue what makes up the fabric of this nation. We the people are slow to rise, but as 9-11 should have reminded us all, when we realize we are under attack we rise.
Here’s how I explained it on my blog (sorry for the length. Trying hard not to make people go off FR to see things):
Dear legislator:
With all the urgent business today, you’re probably asking yourself why an eligibility bill is needed now, when the country has gotten along fine all these years. I’m writing to give as concisely as possible a few of the reasons why this issue is among the most urgent of all. There is much, much more, but these are some of the main reasons:
1. National security. There is no security clearance for POTUS and VP. The vote itself is the only vetting done, and voters have no access to official records. Unresolved questions about eligibility mean that any person or foreign government that has incriminating records can blackmail the person who holds the nuclear football, appoints SCOTUS justices, cabinet members, and unaccountable “czars”, makes executive orders, and has the power to veto anything our elected officials pass .
2. Frustration of legitimate state government functions. There is no legal definition of “natural born citizen” and the courts are evading any cases which would require the definition to be resolved. This means that nobody in this country can say for sure whether someone is eligible. Leo Donofrio challenged the eligibility of 3 Presidential candidates in NJ – McCain (who was born in Panama), Obama (whose father was not a US citizen), and Roger Calero (a green card holder born in Nicaragua) – all of whom were placed on the ballot without any records being checked, even though NJ requires their SOS to “verify Constitutional eligibility”.
We have a slate of young political leaders who come from a variety of situations, and this issue is only going to get more complicated if we don’t resolve the questions BEFORE it becomes a referendum on a particular candidate. It is unfair to ask our Secretary of State, Congress, or the chairs of the DNC and RNC to decide who is eligible, when they are not authorized to interpret the Constitution and have no ruling on the definition by those who ARE supposed to interpret the Constitution. Having 50 different Secretaries of State decide for themselves what the definition is will present a chaotic situation. We clearly need a SCOTUS ruling on the definition of “natural born citizen”.
3. Denial of the people’s First Amendment right to “petition the government for a redress of grievances”. The only civilians the courts allow to challenge either a candidate’s eligibility or bureaucrats’ refusal to do their legally-required duties (such as in NJ, referenced above) are those the court thinks would “probably” win the election. Donofrio and all others who have sued – including another candidate and an elector – have been denied “standing”. When the entire citizenry is told they don’t have standing they are being told it is none of their business if the Constitution is followed or not. In a form of government which is critically dependent on accountability from a vigilant citizenry, that situation is literally a death sentence for America.
4. That refusal to allow real accountability creates a dangerous, toxic situation where government is distrusted, conspiracy theories abound because there is nobody who is trusted for accurate information, and the nation is split into violently polarized factions. Over the weekend David Gregory pushed very hard to get Eric Cantor to label as “crazy” the 60% or so of Americans who aren’t confident that Obama was born in America. After all the talk about softening the rhetoric we still have 60% of Americans being demonized by the media, and politicians caught between the agenda of the media and the very real anger and frustration of the American public. That’s not healthy for anybody – least of all the country as a whole.
Right now a decorated military surgeon is sitting in jail with his family’s livelihood and $800,000 of his own money gone, rather than being in Afghanistan where he wants to be, helping to heal our wounded warriors of wounds like Gabrielle Giffords’ – all because in over a year of asking his leaders for assurances that the Commander in Chief was truly compliant with the Constitution he swore to protect and defend, he could not find even ONE leader who would take the issue seriously – including his Congressman and the Commander in Chief. What message does that give our military officers who make those oaths? What message does that give our wounded heroes in Afghanistan?
Presenting proof of eligibility is something every child who plays in Little League has to do, but the media contends it is “crazy” if people want the United States President to have to do the same. It feels like an alternate universe to many who feel like the country they know and love is slipping away, where there is one set of laws for the people and another set – that no one can even enforce – for the ruling class. As if the ruling class is “untouchable” by legitimate means of legal accountability. The government needs the goodwill of the American people, and they are not going to get it by mocking the deepest-held convictions that we all supposedly share in the Constitution.
Divided we fall. That’s why this issue matters so much.
You are absolutely right. That’s why anyone who says “forget all this stuff, just fight his agenda and vote him out” either doesn’t get the picture or is on the other side.