President Obama’s birth certificate continues to make headlines in ways he doesn’t want.
The latest: Arizona’s top elections official is trying to explain why he’s seeking to verify the document before placing Obama on the November ballot.
Arizona Secretary of State Ken Bennett, a Republican exploring a 2014 race for governor, issued a statement insisting he is not a “birther,” the word he and others use for those who believe Obama was not born in the United States and is not legitimately president.
Bennett told a radio interviewer yesterday it was “possible” he would keep Obama off the ballot if the issue isn’t resolved.
Apparently Hawaii doesn’t release a birth certificate without a strong need to know. What is it about Arizona? Is it the water? The over-all educational level? Too close to Area 51? (Area 51 is in Nevada for Pete’s sake!) Is there any way we can just insist that Arizona secede and go on off about their own business? Maybe we could just give the Grand Canyon to Utah before they go.
Bennet continued:
“First, I have been on the record since 2009 that I believe the president was born in Hawaii. I am not a birther,” Bennett said in his statement.
“At the request of a constituent, I asked the state of Hawaii for a verification in lieu of certified copy,” he said. “We’re merely asking them to officially confirm they have the president’s birth certificate in their possession and are awaiting their response.”
Arizona has been pegged by some political observers to be a possible battleground state in November. Tensions between state officials such as Republican Gov. Jan Brewer and the Obama administration over issues such as immigration have spilled over into the federal courts, putting Arizona under an even hotter spotlight in an election year.
This is just political theater at its worst. Has any state ever left an incumbent off the ballot? Bennett needs to tell the constituent to pound sand and just get on with the program. More redneck anarchist behavior out of Arizona. They aren’t an island. Arizona must get along with the remaining 49 states. What on earth do people who have sense and live in Arizona do?
@Elena
That was me. I was poking you for the mandate comment.
Ok, I was JOKING about the posse but apparently the Sheriff was serious.
http://www.azcentral.com/news/politics/articles/2012/05/21/20120521arpaio-obama-birth-funding.html
Sheriff Joe Arpaio’s volunteer investigation into documents pertaining to President Barack Obama’s residency status now includes the services of a taxpayer-funded deputy, according to Arpaio.
Sheriff Joe is going to wind up in jail one of these days. He pushes the envelope just a little too far.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/in-arizona-the-birther-plot-plays-on/2012/05/21/gIQAV9tYgU_story.html?tid=pm_pop
I agree with you Elena, but perhaps we can agree that where there is smoke there is likely to be fire and where there are numerous sources of smoke there is a higher probability of fire. Therein lies the problem.
Are you a birther?
Blue, then you’d better ask yourself who the arsonists are and what their motivation is.
No, I actually won’t agree Blue. Do you agree with 9-11 truthers, they claim they see smoke? Maybe they also see little green people 😉
Birther Moon, really – No, but I do want some records of the Great Leader that I think we have a right to see released. It is the fact that these records have not been released that leaves a bad smokey taste in the mouths of many. His Occidental records, Columbia records, Columbia thesis, Harvard records, Selective Service status records, student loan and payment records, and other Medical records, for example, remain sealed at his request. Michelle’s Princton thesis about Blacks at Princton is public and you should read it – its a doosey, but Obama’s is not – not even, as best I can tell, the title. As a matter of record, Obama visited Kenya and in 1983 Pakistan, could he not release or could not the State Department confirm or release his passport – just to clear that up? And since the Obama’s want to go after Ann Romney, I would like to know why Michelle practiced law for only 4 years before being going inactive and not authorized to practice law and also recent suggestions that the record was exponged in 2010 from stating that is was court ordered. See https://www.iardc.org/ldetail.asp?id=836412608.
I can understand the curiosity about those things but I don’t think we are entitled to see those things necessarily.
I think Mrs. Obama had kids was her reason for quitting.
@Blue
So exactly what are these doubters and record-demanders trying to prove?
I find conspiracy theories ridiculous. Just like the truther movement, it is silly. Worry about the policy issues, worry about the long term health and well being of the country. Stop wasting time looking for BS that doesn’t exist.
Now people are going after Michelle Obama, OY VEY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
@Censored bybvbl
They are demanding honesty and clarity. He either lied about his past then or now. It seems that his past claims are just supposed to be ignored. That when he was called on it, cries of conspiracy and “birther” rose up.
Well, the AP even claimed it. http://americanpowerblog.blogspot.com/2012/05/associated-press-declared-obama-kenyan.html
And if the new claim is just an error, why did it take 15 years to fix it?
http://dailycaller.com/2012/05/21/if-obamas-false-claim-of-kenyan-birth-was-just-a-fact-checking-error-why-did-it-take-over-15-years-to-fact-check-it/
We just want Obama to be vetted. You know, like you would demand of any Republican with a confused bio.
You mean like Mitt Romney? Actually, no, I am not demanding anything about Mitt Romney. Why would I? His parents are American. Good enough for me. I don’t even care if he had 10 grandmothers in defiance of the law. Why? I am not mentally ill or vindictive or prone to fall for conspiracy theories. I bet I watched enough Big Love though to come up with something very clever.
How about ancient Mormons who were forced to give up their wives decided to get even so they ran off to Mexico and established a colony. There were a few ancient astronauts lingering on so they inbred with them also. They have the perfect grandfather so they quickly send him back to the USA so he can pretend he was born there…..Bingo…he has a son who fathers a boy who they named Mitt…scratch that…actually he was named Willard, ssme as the rat that Michael Jackson sang about. So they just called him Mitt so no one know about the Rat family connection. How am I doing so far? Meanwhile, Dawg the Bounty Hunter has been cancelled.
No, I wouldn’t be like that, if for no other reason, I wouldn’t want to sound like a total A-hole.
Who is this “we?” Bringing in imaginary people won’t make it so.
See, now this is why WE conservatives don’t take a lot of liberals seriously in many things. Imaginary people? Why the insult? There are a lot of Americans wanting to know the accurate information. The press refused and still refuses to do their job.
We’re talking about vetting a Presidential candidate… and his eligibility (back then) and verifying the truth. You start bringing up things like grandmothers and Mexico.
Guess what? If Mitt Romney’s parents (both) were not American citizens, then he is not a “natural born” citizen. However, because that term has never been legally clarified, being born in America is being used to satisfy the definition. McCain provided documentation to satisfy requirements. I don’t care what party the candidate is from if they do not meet eligibility or if they’ve been lying about their past for political gain.
You want to investigate Romney? Go ahead. Let’s pull out all of his business dealings and his background. And do the same to Obama. Or any candidate.
Why are you so willing to accept Obama’s word on his background? Was he adopted by Soetero? Did he get Indonesian citizenship? Did he attend college on a scholarship for foreign students? Why did he claim to be Kenyan until it was politically harmful? Why is this NOT a problem for you? How does the nationality of his father affect his eligibility under the Constitution? Did it give Obama dual citizenship? Though I will admit that in reality, in this case, it does not seem to affect his “loyalty.” If anything, he is hostile to Great Britain. But, it is still the Constitutional rules. Instead of ignoring these things and declaring those that follow the evidence of his lies to be “birthers,” it should have been clarified, if only for future elections.
You’re willing to support a candidate that blatantly falsified his past. Bet you wouldn’t give a Republican that leeway.
Your problem is, you think you know more than anyone else. You don’t.
Romney? It was a joke. Reread.
This is an absurd discussion. Yes, you are a birther. If it walks like a duck, talks like a duck, then it probably is a duck. Yes, Obama is an American citizen.
End of discussion on this blog.
HERE IS SOME CLARITY! FINALLY! SOMEONE PUTS IT INTO WRITING! GO READ.
Take your time though….its brilliant.
http://www.redstate.com/ironchapman/2012/05/21/on-this-natural-born-citizen-issue-part-i-from-alexander-hamilton-to-lynch-v-clarke/
Read the comments. The whole thing is interesting. Context! Sources! Legalese! Woohoo!
This is nut talk. Seriously. It is also extremely tiresome.
Talks like a birther, walks like a birther, whines like a birther…….Yes, Cargo, you are a birther. Why don’t you go to a “truther” blog, you will fit right in!
Elena,
Calling me a truther, someone that believes that 911 was an “inside” job, is a personal insult. If that’s what you meant, I want an apology.
As for the “birther,” thing, apparently you guys can’t accept a discussion about controversial things. I’ve BLUNTLY stated MY position. I believe that Obama was born in Hawaii. I believe that he lied about being born in Kenya for political gain. I believe that, until 2007, he never even thought that he could successfully run for President, so it did not matter to him. THOSE claims are why there is confusion, along with his complicated and “composite” life story.
The link that I posted, with those comments, BACKS UP YOUR THOUGHTS AND BELIEFS, ON HIM AND ON IMMIGRATION, BOTH ILLEGAL AND LEGAL. That link actually supports Obama. I’ve never said he wasn’t eligible. I’ve said that there is confusion in his bio.
But I knew that you guys would disregard it and jump to conclusions. Thanks for proving me right.
Legitimate and very real unresolved questions regarding the biggest sets of personal, financial and other frauds ever posed on Americans and you want to shout them down as Birthers. Not even willing to acknowledge the curiousity. Sad, very, very sad. Dangerous. Understand that Obama is a hater. He has yet to distance himself – as an American President – from the Occupiers. Fathered and then abandoned by a polygamist, raised by grandparents that he also hates – in writing – he and Michelle learned how to “get over.” That deserves some – more – attention. In 1927 we too were told to go back and read the book, then listen – those who did and made plans accordingly got out. Many doctors, lawyers, teachers and business people and many in mixed marriges who thought they were safe did not and waited too long. “We are socialists, we are enemies of today’s capitalistic economic system for the exploitation of the economically weak, with its unfair salaries, with its unseemly evaluation of a human being according to wealth and property instead of responsibility and performance, and we are all determined to destroy this system under all conditions..” It got progressively worse, more strident and more hateful as time went by.
You know, the more I think about this…the more insulted I am.
YOU GUYS put the topic up. Other commenters talked about it. I stated my position in no uncertain terms which was ignored. I brought up the questions that have arisen and have caused various people and states to react the way they did and do. I even provided information that supports Obama. I did put up the link with the new information that shows Obama in a poor light. And I’ve stated that THAT info just adds evidence to the case of political expediency, not birthers. And for this, everything I write is ignored and substituted with what you think I’m saying. Everything I write has been castigated. I’m constantly told that I’m writing code words, or “we know what you meant.”
Either you want discussion or you want an echo chamber. Apparently you only put up this post so generate scorn for Arpaio. God forbid that people actually do worry about Constitutional questions and questions of honesty. And I notice that both of you refuse to answer MY question. Would you be willing to ignore this situation if Obama was a Republican president? Would having composites and lies in his official biographies be something you would ignore or would you challenge said Republican?
Because if you don’t, then you’re using a double standard.
We put up the topic NOT to encourage discussion of where the President was born or his legitimacy as president, but to laugh at Arizona and the affrontery of this rogue state to keep pulling shinannigans. I thought that was clear.
Yes, you said you weren’t a birther and then argued to the contrary, giving the sellings point any good birther would provide. Why would you continue to push the birther crap on us when we were clearly making fun of it.
As for truther vs birther….you might want to look around the blog for some of Elena’s relatives. They missing. Want to know why? [stage whisper} conspiracy theories.
@Cargo, no scorn for Arpaio. Its about the secretary of state of AZ. I think the crap you put up about Obama was exactly that: crap.
Would I want the same for Mitt Romney? I would say it was crap also. I thought my Alien abduction mormon Willard story based on Big Love was a dead giveaway on that one.
BTW, you have never heard me say a word against Mitt Romney, have you? You might want to stop assuming and use all the clues from the primaries.
Cargo,
Just admit you are a birther and move on. You want a personal apology. Don’t hold your breath. The people who believe George Bush perpetrated 9-11 have their “questions” and smoking gun too! haven’t you seen the book written by the widows? Nah, birthers are as dillusional as the truthers, and that you all actually admit you have concerns is what is wrong with people on either extreme of the policital spectrum in my opinion.
Just as I told the person whom I am very close to, I would not entertain the idea the “truther” movenment, nor will I give any crediblity to the birther movement.
Guess what Cargo, if one admits they have doubts about the legitimacy of this president due to the birth certifcate, they ARE a birther and have lost all credibility in my opinion.
I ignored the stupidity regarding John McCain and his “legal” right be president also. JUST as stupid. I have also ignored the stupid truthers. It is you Cargo who is blinded by your partisianship, not I.
There were plenty of people after Gore V Bush that believed we had an illegitimate President. Not me, I accepted the Supreme Court decision. I many not have like it, but I certainly didn’t waste valuable time aguing about whether Bush was my “real” president.
Cargo,
Here is the point of the thread, to make fun of the mashugana behavior of the birthers. If there was a state trying to implement some stupid truther agenda we would do the same! It isn’t meant for serious debate!
I think you mean MESHUGGINA or even Meshugeneh. I know what it means and its not. Birthers are not, however, Mensch like the messianic followers of the Great Leader, if that is what you mean.
But I DIDN’T say that I had any doubts according to his birth certificate. THAT’s what YOU keep saying I’m saying. You are putting words in my mouth. I even posted a link SUPPORTING THE PRESIDENT. My questions were about his honesty and the press’s lack of vetting the President while digging into the GOP. Even Tom Brokaw stated that they didn’t know anything about Obama.
How many times do I have to bluntly say it? The President was born in Hawaii.
He’s the President.
AGAIN you ignore what I write and you put words in my mouth. I put up the link about the NEW information, stating that it was the NEW controversy, thinking that you would point and laugh at any new “birther” statements. But I thought that you would honestly be concerned about 15 years of falsification of Obama’s biography for political expediency. I guess it doesn’t matter if one is a Democrat. And I took you guys at your word that you weren’t partisan.
I posted what some of the concerns were. I’ve stated that I did not share them. I answered other commenters. I’m sorry. I thought that people wanted discussion instead of an echo chamber. I tend to reply when things I write are commented upon, especially when they are taken incorrectly.
Apparently the double standard IS alive and well. Still no answer about concerns about a candidates honesty.
And, again, 911 truther is a separate matter. Notice that I did not ask for an apology about your mischaracterization about me as a birther. I don’t consider that an insult as it did not involve terrorism and implications of disloyalty. Call me a birther all you want. It’s still wrong.
We obviously don’t think the information is legitmate and we clearly said we didn’t want birther talk here.
You have accused the President of the United States of lying on this blog. That isn’t really what we want to see here.
The fact that we don’t want conspiracy theories discussed here has been made very clear. You chose to continue to ignore us.
We see no difference in truthers and birthers. Its all conspiracy theory. It doesn’t belong on this blog. Why? The owners have said so. One of the owners has even asked her relatives to go elsewhere to discuss such things.
I know exactly what I mean Blue, please don’t correct my yiddish. I won’t argue transliteration, especially in Hebrew or Yiddish. Your subsequent sentence regarding a mensch doesn’t even make sense!
http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=meshugana
I’ll tell you what I told a very close relative when they attempted to convince me there was validity in the truther movement “you sound like a birther, just as nutty” to which the response was ” I am nothing like a birther, I have real questions and facts” to which I replied “yeah, that is EXACTLY what the birthers say, and you are all nutty!”
That was the end of any futher conversations on THAT subject.
@Moon-howler
Fine. No conspiracies.
But I really don’t understand. Which information is not legitimate? The new information about his bio? In that the press release was fake or what? And, yes, I accused him of lying. There’s evidence. Isn’t that important? Is the office of the Presidency above criticism?
You put up the “conspiracy” theory up. You implied it about Arpaio to laugh at him. I provided a link to new info thinking that you would point and laugh at any NEW birther stuff.
But, instead of accepting what I write, you read your own biases into it. And so, then, because you incorrectly think I’m a birther, you accuse me of believing that our government killed 3000 people. A government whose orders that I took for 25 years, attempting to defend this nation against monsters like the 911 terrorists. You see no difference so its ok to insult me. THAT is how I’m reading your statement about me being a truther. Moon, you rightly took offense when I mistakenly accused you of not supporting the troops in an earlier post. I apologized for my mistaken reading of your words. You can’t state that you don’t think I’m a “truther?”
If you come on here presenting birther type “factoids” then we go back to our walks like a duck theory.
Don’t act like one and no one will mistake you for one.
No, I don’t believe the gobbledeegook of new birther information. I didn’t believe the old stuff either.
I did not accuse you of being a truther.
Sorry, not Arpaio, but Arizona, to laugh at them
Cargo, If I were to spew out insane “truther” questions, in order to debate the validity of their claims, I would be confused for a truther. The same logic holds true for birthers.
@Elena
Where did I spout out insane birther questions?
The closest thing to “birther” stuff that I put down was this:
“Why are you so willing to accept Obama’s word on his background? Was he adopted by Soetero? Did he get Indonesian citizenship? Did he attend college on a scholarship for foreign students? Why did he claim to be Kenyan until it was politically harmful?”
Those are the concerns of people that wonder if he is a citizen. No press covered any of those questions.
I believe he is a citizen. I accept his statement that he was born in Hawaii. He has acted weirdly when asked by citizens to provide evidence of his Hawaiin birth. HE stated that he was born in Kenya. That’s where the idea came from. Then he stopped claiming it in 2007. Is it ok with you that a political candidate of any party is dishonest in his biography? The new information is that HIS agents used bio information FROM him.
@Moon-howler
Elena said this: “Why don’t you go to a “truther” blog, you will fit right in!” She then equated truthers with birthers, saying that there is no difference.
“You want a personal apology. Don’t hold your breath.”
You said this:” We see no difference in truthers and birthers”
I took this to mean that you considered me to be a truther.
You guys are saying that the new information from his agent is not legitimate? That its fake? We already know that the information in the bio is wrong. Or are you saying that questions of this sort, about why he supported the idea that he was Kenyan born, are not appropriate to ask of Obama? Are you saying that the idea that Obama supported that idea is a conspiracy? Because that is different from “birtherism.” That idea actually ACCEPTS Obama as legitimately born in Hawaii, as I do.
I consider the subject closed.
We will continue to update if the secretary of state does anything else stupid. Right now, he seems to have walked this one back.
Figures.
A modicum of research, as in 20 seconds, debunks this Cargo and THAT is why we don’t debate the silliness here.
http://www.snopes.com/politics/obama/birthers/birthcertificate.asp
Now, I have answered your questions. I am done on this subject. To pose the questions gives them validity in my opinion. I have responded more to this nonsense than I would EVER to another fabricated conspiracy theory.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/jason-pinter/obama-birthplace_b_1530399.html
client
Very nice. You have someone’s opinion which also disregards other instances. But you’re right. Ya’ll are done.