Thursday, April 28, 2011
President Obama: Where, oh, where, was he born?
Yesterday morning I did an interview with a talk-radio station in Ohio. The guy who interviewed me (Mike Romigh) was great and very fair and interested in what I had to say, giving me 15 minutes to discuss the death penalty. I was worried, though-- when I had tuned to the station on-line (at a different time) the previous day, there was a lot of ranting about President Obama being born outside the United States, invalidating his presidency.
It's not just talk radio obsessing with this at the moment, either. A recent poll showed that 45% of Republicans think that Obama was not born in Hawaii as documents have shown, and Donald Trump has been virtually running for president on this "issue."
Yesterday, President Obama released his "long-form" birth certificate in an attempt to calm the waters a bit.
Why is this coming up now? Is it a genuine issue?
It's not just talk radio obsessing with this at the moment, either. A recent poll showed that 45% of Republicans think that Obama was not born in Hawaii as documents have shown, and Donald Trump has been virtually running for president on this "issue."
Yesterday, President Obama released his "long-form" birth certificate in an attempt to calm the waters a bit.
Why is this coming up now? Is it a genuine issue?
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NO! It is not, and never was, a legitimate issue!!!
The President got played, in a lose-lose situation. But in a very real sense, it's his own fault, for not having put this to rest YEARS ago.
Everything about this subject is a very sad commentary on where we are, and are not, as a country.
The President got played, in a lose-lose situation. But in a very real sense, it's his own fault, for not having put this to rest YEARS ago.
Everything about this subject is a very sad commentary on where we are, and are not, as a country.
# posted by 
: 12:15 AM
: 12:15 AM 
Trump and the "birther" platform are jokes. Only our (read: Republican) crazies are energized by Trump and the birth certificate. I am dubious of your cited poll numbers.
As long as we are discussing the birth certificate issue, the dems are gaining ground. The President knows that, did NOT get played, and is happy to keep this issue alive.
As long as we are discussing the birth certificate issue, the dems are gaining ground. The President knows that, did NOT get played, and is happy to keep this issue alive.
Can we talk about something important like the Royal Wedding, the US deficit and jobs or that we still have thousands of American men and women stationed in the middle east and Afghanistan?
Oh, and I have a legitimate source that knows President Obama was born on Pluto and that is why Pluto lost planet status a couple years ago.
Oh, and I have a legitimate source that knows President Obama was born on Pluto and that is why Pluto lost planet status a couple years ago.
On this issue I will quote a great thinker, Steve Martin... "Have found Donald Trump’s birth certificate. He was born in Hawaii, but before it was a state. This is getting complicated."
Tom Paine--
Sorry, I forgot to include a link to that poll (I usually try not to use stats without a link). It was a NY Times/CBS poll, and now is linked in the post.
Sorry, I forgot to include a link to that poll (I usually try not to use stats without a link). It was a NY Times/CBS poll, and now is linked in the post.
Its nuts, its crazy, but ignoring it was a mistake. It's not the frist time "the people" seized on a non-issue and turned it into one nor is the last. And the Press/electronica seized upon it.
The reason this silliness has legs is that there are a lot of people out there who cannot identify with Obama -- he's calm, cool collected personality just does not resonate with people. I've heard it from people who don't live in Washington, don't follow politics and are not in professions where they need to do.... I've listened to people tell me that Obama is odd because he doesn't understand them.
Not sure how he can change that. He should avoid embarrassments like Dukakis in a tank or Kerry going duck hunting.
The reason this silliness has legs is that there are a lot of people out there who cannot identify with Obama -- he's calm, cool collected personality just does not resonate with people. I've heard it from people who don't live in Washington, don't follow politics and are not in professions where they need to do.... I've listened to people tell me that Obama is odd because he doesn't understand them.
Not sure how he can change that. He should avoid embarrassments like Dukakis in a tank or Kerry going duck hunting.
No, it's not a legitimate issue.
It's the crazies doing what crazies do: de-legitimize those who beat them. And there are a lot more crazies out there who want to live in denial about facts.
They sure didn't care that Dick Cheney violated the Twelfth Amendment by pretending to change his residency back to Wyoming from Texas just in time for the Republican National Convention. Lawsuits challenging that were quickly (and correctly) dismissed as presenting political questions for the Congress to deal with, if it chose to do so.
Also, I'm a little surpised at the skepticism about Osler's poll. After all, there's still a sizable chunk of people out there who think that Saddam Hussein was involved in the September 11 terrorist attacks.
It's the crazies doing what crazies do: de-legitimize those who beat them. And there are a lot more crazies out there who want to live in denial about facts.
They sure didn't care that Dick Cheney violated the Twelfth Amendment by pretending to change his residency back to Wyoming from Texas just in time for the Republican National Convention. Lawsuits challenging that were quickly (and correctly) dismissed as presenting political questions for the Congress to deal with, if it chose to do so.
Also, I'm a little surpised at the skepticism about Osler's poll. After all, there's still a sizable chunk of people out there who think that Saddam Hussein was involved in the September 11 terrorist attacks.
Here's something I've always wondered but have never bothered to investigate- assuming that Obama was in fact NOT born in Hawaii and assuming further that he is infact ineligible to serve as the US president, who would have standing to bring this claim? How would we as a nation even go about fixing this problem?
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