We've all had our fun watching people stand up at town hall meetings and loudly assert that President Obama was born in Kenya. It was a giggle to see the anonymous online hordes argue that an obvious forgery - apparently done by a kindergartner, with crayon - is the president's real birth certificate. There's an undeniable majesty in the pretzel logic employed to argue that Obama's Hawaiian birth certificate, two newspaper announcements, and repeated statements by the state's Republican governor are all part of a 48-year-old conspiracy.
But the grand prank that is the "birther" movement needs to be wrapped before it overstays its welcome, before it sullies the president's credible opponents, before it makes the South into a laughingstock, and before it does real damage to the nation's conservative movement, where it finds its home on the farthest reaches of the furthest fringe.
For those who don't spend time watching the TV shouters or reading the more paranoid precincts of the Internet, here's the birther belief: Barack Obama wasn't born in America and therefore is ineligible to be president.
It's a completely ridiculous assertion, of course, contradicted by evidence, testimony and common sense. Ordinarily, it's the kind of conspiracy theory that wouldn't bear mentioning.
But a new robocall survey by Public Policy Polling shows that only 53 percent of all Virginians believe the president was born in the United States. Among Virginia Republicans, the number is 32 percent. A full 41 percent of Virginia Republicans believe Obama was born elsewhere.
According to a similar survey by DailyKos/Research2000, 77 percent of all Americans believe the president was born in America. In the South, though, that number is a mere 47 percent. Among Republicans nationwide, believers in the president's Hawaiian birth amount to just 42 percent.
That's a lot of numbers. But the inescapable conclusion is that about half of Southerners and Virginians believe something despite what the facts clearly indicate. That's either a testament to the reach and persuasiveness of the prankster-birthers and their followers, or to something much deeper, and perhaps much uglier in our psyche.
To his credit, the standard-bearer for Virginia Republicans will have none of it. "President Obama is a citizen; he is the president of the United States," Bob McDonnell said in an online exchange last week. If any sentence can be read any number of ways, a campaign official left no doubt that the candidate was rejecting the birther conspiracy in its entirety.
McDonnell's colleagues up and down the Republican landscape would do well to be similarly unequivocal.
The merry pranksters of talk radio, cable chatter and the Internet will say or do anything to attract an audience. They will assert things they don't believe to gin up ratings, excitement and anger. That is quite surely the source of the birther conspiracy, one that has been animated by political bitterness over November's election results, and an almost atavistic discomfort with Obama in the White House.
None of that really matters. Barack Obama, as surely as the sun will come up, is the president of the United States.
These remain tumultuous times, in the nation, in Virginia, and in Washington. The president has brought with him an array of ambitious initiatives that need careful consideration and thoughtful opposition.
It is no time for childish pranks, for silly distractions. For the nation's sake, let's hope this joke is finally over.
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hey, birthers,
how many of our first 8 Presidents were born in the United States? How many were born British subjects?
The 14th Amendment...
which specifies the citizenship requirements, wasn't proposed until 1866, or ratifed until 1868. All of the first 8 presidents were born in the present US (the 13 English colonies), but there wasn't a US at that time. But they met the requirements that became law in the next century as far as WHERE they were born.
The birther nuttery is so yesterday
The current nuttery is from the "Deathers" with their "death panels / gubmint-forced euthanasia" rants. "RetiredGuy" tries to use the 'false equivalency / everyone does it' defense but fails miserably. He fails to mention and what the editorial barely touches on is that the nuttiness exhibited with this latest GOP loon story is that its been mainstreamed by the GOP. The craziness is spewed by prominent TeeVee personalities with their own TV shows and by Republican congressmen. Got it? Prominent TV news people and Congressmen. Lou Dobbs, Glenn Beck, Fauxnews with their incessant birther reporting, Sean Nutters Hannity, Orly Taitz (Attorney, Dentist, Real Estate agent!), John Campbell (CA), Rep. John Sullivan (R-Okla.), Congressional Birther Bill creator Bill Posey, R-Fla, Sen. Jim Inhofe, R-Okla, Sen. Richard Shelby, R-Ala. People with TeeVee shows and GOP congressmen. And now Alaska Wingnut Spice has recently put her foot in it. The GOP poked the hive to bring out the base and now they cant put the hornets back.
It's easy to see...
why people will believe these things when one takes the time to look at who Obama has installed in his admin, especially among his 'Czars'. None other than his science guru John Holdren has expressed views that are out and out scary. It's easy for some to dismiss the 'deathers', but there certainly isn't any reassurance coming forth from Obama, his actions are strongly suggesting to some (and that number is growing) that when he talks, he isn't to be believed. Attack that all you want, that truth cannot be denied!
Shorter "GuyFromChes":
"I am completely unaware of any reassurance coming from Obama & his admin regarding 'Deather' nonsense, and even if he does come out and call it shrill nuttiness, then i still wont believe him for i will continue to cling to my crazy talk."
Shortly after telling Americans that some opponents are trying to "scare the heck out of folks" by misleading them about his health care reform efforts, President Obama told a town hall audience in New Hampshire that he is "not in favor" of so-called "death panels" in which the government would decide who does and does not qualify for care to keep them alive. Some Republicans have disavowed the "death panel" claim, which several media outlets have noted is false. It was among the "10 Health Care Myths" debunked on this site last week.
Youze guys just dont get how shrill and crazy you sound. But the crazy and the shrill never do.
And you cannot comprehend ...
WHY some folks have their reservations about what's being proposed, and there certainly is no basis for believing the president or his supporters on anything they say here, his own recorded track record betrays him and them. Obama is on film advocating a single payer system, even though he is NOW saying otherwise. Some among his czars favor forced abortions and sterlizations if they deem the world situation demands it. THAT is the basis for some to believe the worst about this admin. And the likes of YOU would be leading the charge if you had such proposals put forth by a Republican president. Spare me your selective outrage, much less your hypocrisy.
OK?
Did we forget McCain?
While there is a lot of speculative banter about Obama not being born in the good ole USA, it is an undeniable fact that his presidential opponent John McCain was not.
n 1936, McCain was born at the Coco Solo Air Base, in the then-American controlled Panama Canal Zone to Jack McCain, a Navy officer, and Roberta McCain. If McCain had won the 2008 election, he’d be the first American to take the presidential oath who has an official birthplace outside the 50 states.
The Navy Hospital is considered US Soil
That question was legally answered during the election. Military bases and US Navy ships are considered US soil and hence anyone born within their confines are also consided native born Americans. This debate is rediculous from both sides.
except no one is serious
except no one is serious about McCain's side of it. That factoid is merely brought up in response to some nutty birther.
birthers at rallies
Will the birthers show up at Bob McDonnell's campaign rallies to shout over and ridicule him for his views?
My guess is..
they'll show up at DEEDS rallies to do so..
From the column..
"But a new robocall survey by Public Policy Polling shows that only 53 percent of all Virginians believe the president was born in the United States."
I'm no statistician (thought I lied about being one to impress a hot babe at a Happy Hour one time, so very long ago!), but doesn’t that imply that quite a few DEMS in VA don't believe him either?
And this: According to a similar survey by DailyKos/Research2000, 77 percent of all Americans believe the president was born in America. In the South, though, that number is a mere 47 percent. Among Republicans nationwide, believers in the president's Hawaiian birth amount to just 42 percent.
This dubious source aside, that is saying that over half of ALL Americans in the south believe he is a foreigner. Am I misinterpreting that? The point is, this isn’t restricted to just Republicans. Believing the worst about this certainly cuts both ways, agreed?
Check the election results
Obama won 52.7% in VA, which is pretty close to the 53% who still think he is an American. Coincidence? I think not.
McCain won a majority of the southern states, so it is not surprising that only 47% think Obama was born in HI. I don't think you are misinterpreting that, and I agree that it isn't just restricted to Republicans. There are plenty of independents and third-party members who think Obama is a foreign invader, but if you're looking for Democrats who think Obama isn't American, I doubt you'd see higher than 5%.
If anyone is still taking this seriously, ask yourself this: if you were going to steal the election with a foreigner, why pick a biracial man with a Kenyan father, scary leftist politics and a name like Barack Obama? Why not pick a white man of European descent with a very normal-sounding name and center-right politics? That would be the more obvious way to secure a stolen presidency. Doing it this way, that's a pretty high start value for difficulty.
I think this whole episode...
is nutty, and if I were Obama, I'd do exactly as he has been doing, and not release anything and let those who have such heartburn over it froth themselves into a tizzy. That said, I have to disagree with the numbers suggested that independents and others may have 'skewed' these results. It is none other than a 'prominent Pennsylvania Democrat' (Phillip J. Berg) who has led this charge about Obama's BC. Given the animosity between the Clinton and Obama camps in last year's nomination campaign, I'll bet there are a lot more than just 5% who believe that he was born outside the country. The call for him to release his college papers is rooted in this as well, because some think that he would have to have listed himself as a foreign student to get into Harvard at that time, absent any real distinction among his application scores. I'm not excusing anything, just repeating some of what has been said and alleged.
Virginia...
Is the 6th "smartest" state in the union. How can it be that we elected Obama, but we are so backwards and stupid?
Equally ignorant
The far right birthers are in a class of ignoramuses with the far lefties who still believe that Bush ordered the destruction of the World Trade Center towers, and Cheney ordered the shoot down of Paul Wellstone's plane. The two groups are equally ignorant and pathetic.
I don't think the truther
I don't think the truther movement is exclusively the realm of the far left in the way the birther movement is practically a GOP plank. I'd always assumed the truthers were mostly the western militia, libertarians and other right wing anarchists. Believe me if this was some sort of left wing cause I'd have gotten the memo. I think you're talking about Bush rigging the 2000 election . . .
I already responded to that argument
Check the response to your earlier post trying to link the "birther" fringe movement to the 9/11 "truthers". I agree with you that both groups are equally ignorant and pathetic, but it begs the question why do most if not almost all liberals ignore the "truthers" while almost half of the Republicans in VA agree with the "birthers"? Why can't the senior leadership in the Republican party, such as Sen. McConnell, Rep. Cantor, and Rep. Boehner get the message out that Pres. Obama is the duly elected President? It's time to get the GOP back to work on issues that matter, such as helping the President get health care reform passed without the govt. mandates he campaigned would not be part of his plan, but which Democrats are trying to pass anyway.
Town Hall
"We've all had our fun watching people stand up at town hall meetings and loudly assert that President Obama was born in Kenya"
We have?? Maybe the Pilot editorial staff cares about the birth certificate stuff but average Hampton Roads voters are thinking about health care and wondering what our representatives think about the monstrosity Obama, Pelosi and Harry Reid are pushing. But Mark Warner, Jim Webb and Glenn Nye all have decided to take a pass and have "phone in" sessions instead of town halls. The Democrats are not interested in hearing from the public about what America wants with regard to healthcare, which is why you will not see our congressmen and senators hosting any meetings over the next few months where actual citizens can ask questions and speak thier mind. Don't we have a right to know what is being proposed in detail without being called "mobs" if we dare to ask questions?
If the democrats were really interested in improving healthcare and lowering costs they would look closely at limiting frivilous medical malpractice lawsuits, but that is not what they want to do.
Democrats do want to hear from you
That's why they have the phone-in sessions. It's pointless to go and have a bunch of hooligans scream and shout things like the "death squads" will kill grandma or people on Medicare complaining about the evils of socialized medicine. If people want to stop being called mobs, then they should ask their questions without shouting at the Congressperson, and when they've finished asking, be quiet, sit down, and listen to the answer, and think about what they are saying. And when someone else has an opposing viewpoint, let that person speak with the same courtesy that was shown to you.
Of course you have the right to know what is being proposed, and Congress wants your input. Look at the reforms Rep. Inglis (R-SC) has agreed to, including removing the barriers for insurance plans to compete across state lines. That makes a lot of sense, since much of the argument is based on lowering costs by fostering competition. We need reform, and Republicans need to bring their ideas to the table, but understand that progressives won the election, so if you only get 160 of your 788 amendments passed, that's politics.