Guest blogged by Jill C. of Brilliant at Breakfast
When Bill Clinton became president in 1992, there were many on the right who felt his presidency wasn’t “legitimate” because he didn’t receive a popular vote majority. When he DID receive his popular vote majority in 1996, the witch hunt began in earnest. Not one of these people uttered a peep when the Supreme Court awarded the presidency to George W. Bush in 2000. But right on cue, the nutballs are out again now that a Democrat has once again been elected to the presidency.
The “issue” of Barack Obama’s citizenship status has been kicking around the lunatic right throughout the entire campaign season, and it’s become clear that there is not one piece of identification Barack Obama can offer that will prove his “natural born citizenship” to the satisfaction of these people…
Clarence Thomas, presumably stung by Obama’s earlier statement that he would not have appointed Thomas to the Supreme Court, showed himself for the mean-spirited, petty, angry little man that he is by agreeing to put the lawsuit by New Jersey attorney Leo Donofrio challenging Obama’s eligibility for the presidency to a conference vote. In Thomas’ world, it’s perfectly OK for the Supreme Court to appoint a president, when there is no role whatsoever for the Court outlined in the Constitution, and it’s perfectly acceptable to consider clearly frivolous cases like this one — if your feelings were hurt. This stunt by Thomas, who sees his job not as one of upholding the Constitution but of settling his own scores and grievances, underscores his unfitness to serve. The man besmirches the post he holds every time he casts a vote.
Fortunately, there are still enough people of sanity (and will continue to be, thank goodness) on the court that the case was thrown out.
This of course doesn’t end the matter, nor will it end the matter when the lawsuits by Philip Berg and others, which are even nuttier, are similarly thrown out. Lunatic lawyers are going state-by-state, filing these ridiculous lawsuits based on nothing but theories pulled out of their collective buttocks, trying to decertify individual state’s election in the hope of getting Obama’s electoral vote count below 270 to make him ineligible for the presidency — as if this will somehow make John McCain president (or more to the point, Sarah Palin, since the Donofrio suit challenged McCain’s citizenship as well). The entire exercise is ridiculous, for in the unlikely event that enough courts stacked with Bush appointments did find for these plaintiffs, the election would go to the House of Representatives anyway, and presumably the House would vote for Obama.
But I’m not certain that the whole point of this is to make sure Barack Obama, a black man with a life story that doesn’t consist of false imagery of being a cowboy or a rancher or any of the other Village People drag that Republicans seem to worship, is never inaugurated. It seems more designed to get the story Out There — to foster doubt by bringing these lawsuits to give these ridiculous theories the patina of if not legitimacy, at least possibility. This is the result of the unfortunate tendency of the media in the Bush era to adopt the Dick Cheney One Percent Doctrine to truth — if there is even a one percent chance that a story, no matter how lunatic, is true, it is given the same weight of legitimacy as facts, and called “an alternative viewpoint.” In the case of Obama’s citizenship, the goal is to create enough doubt in the citizenry to damage support for any programs Obama might try to implement that don’t further the Republican goal of further wrecking the country.
[ed note: Comment deleted. It’s posted all over the internet, ergo it’s spam. –99]
Well said, Jill C.
This idiocy regarding Obama, that I guess the first astute commenter above cut-and-pasted from one his/her propaganda sources, does not even qualify for Cheney’s One Percent Solution. Do the Obama-deniers realize that they are convincing others only of their detachment from reality?
[ed note: Sorry, rollo, the spam filter is losing its marbles and you got thrown in the hooscow with the pill peddlers. –99]
Wow,
Even a white boy from a small town upstate NY can smell the stink of Racism surrounding this birth certificate issue.
very sad……..
It’s the Conservative Sky Fairy people like #1 that are ruining this planet, I’m sick of them!!!
To characterize Donofrio’s lawsuit as “lunatic right” is silly and misleading. He’s challenging both candidates – a fact which you conveniently hide until you’re almost done whining. This is like everything else – if there’s evidence, let’s hear it, and if its poor evidence, let these people humiliate themselves so we don’t have to deal with them again in the next election.
But don’t go telling us what to think about it.
I agree with JEA in that we’re talking about the office of President here! There needs to be no doubt about the legitimacy or trustworthiness of the person who holds that office.
And how is this racism? The dude is suing both men – one is white, and one is not. There has been plenty of racism throughout the Presidential contest for sure. A lawsuit against both men does not support that accusation, though.
Obama could show how great a leader he is, simultaneously saving the Supreme Court’s time and putting the plaintiffs in their place by producing the appropriate documentation in a bi-partisan (if you still believe we have a two-party system) forum. His silence in such a simple issue is unreasonable.
Donofrio has just as much right to sue the Presidential candidates as you do to whine about it. And maybe, because of Clarence Thomas, we’ll know soon whether to ignore just your rants, or yours AND Donofrio’s.
Link
Although I did not vote for Mr. Obama, because not one of his issue is agreeable to me, I will accept him as my president by honoring my trust. Mr. Obama believes that he can win in the courts and that his extreme arrogance will “shoo-away’ any nagging flies that may come his way. The problem he has in with the American people who think and read and keep up with the issues…what is called, “The Real America”. I completely agree with JEA’s comments. Mr. Obama only needs to be up front with us and we will accept him in our office of President, otherwise, it will be as if he does not exist. As with the Senate, in 1998, the Supreme Court lacked the courage to accept Mr. Donofrio’s charge that Mr. Obama is not eligible to become President in an effort to have Mr. Obama produce a document that each of us needs to get a Social Security Card, a drivers license, and in some cases a loan from a bank. My fervent prayer is that the TRUTH will come into the light for all to see. I close with this thought: Mr. Obama only does things that will result in political expediancy…he is a cold and calculating operator…we have learned through investigators (Thank You Lord for the Internet…curse you Main Stream Media) many of the “mentors” of Mr. Obama and also his philosophical views…the only thing that Mr. Obama does not realize is that this country is bigger than he is and the minute he turns in the direction that he has wanted to move this country the call of “impeachment” will go up and he will be recalled. At this point in time, the electors have a sacred trust to uphold…I will be praying for them…Amen.
The documents have been produced… and reviewed in person by various authorities… and the far-right wingnuts still howled.
And the far-right wingnuts still howl, even in these comments, each demanding the impossibility of a genuine Obama birth certificate of their own for each one of them to scrutinize obsessively.
And the far-right wingnuts will still be howling no matter how many tons of evidence are produced.
The far-right wingnuts will still be howling as Obama is inaugurated.
And the far-right wingnuts will still be howling as Obama fails to vanish in a puff of brimstone-flavored smoke upon placing his hand on the bible.
And the far-right wingnuts will still be howling after Obama fails to immediately bomb the Pentagon.
And the far-right wingnuts will still be howling as the rethugs impeach him for something-or-the-other two seconds after his ass hits the chair in the Oval Office.
And the far-right wingnuts won’t stop howling… ever.
Why do they howl? Because if they stop howling for even a moment they’ll have to listen to themselves trying to think… and that hurts too much for them to even contemplate.
Obama represents a problem, coming to power at this particular time of multiple global crises… but the problem is not his race or his religion or his citizenship.
The problem is that he’s been shaped by a Democratic party that was beaten near-senseless by the corporations and their rethug tools… to the point where what is now called “centrist” was once called “Republican”… and he’s most probably not the leaader that’s needed now. I’d like to be proven wrong in that, but it seems unlikely.
But he is a natural-born citizen, and he will be President of the United States, and the alternative was the carefully-presented catastrophe of McCaine-Palin.
And that is all.
Commenter #1 up there sounds so reasonable in a way. Just let us see it, and all will be well. But no matter what Obama produced, even if it was certified by God Himself, would only somehow prove that the conspiracy goes even deeper. Responding will not make them go away. Not responding won’t either, unfortunately. These people are going to be the barnacles on the ship of state until they take their medication or another Republican is installed. At least it will keep them occupied and even further marginalized.
This whole issue is just plain stupid. His mother was American. Done. Defined. Now STFU.
Here, on the other hand, is a serious issue that will make Obama look pretty bad, regardless of whether he has anything to do with it (he doesn’t.) Two steps forward, one step back. Blagojevich is a jackass and I hope he does some serious time.
That was a Bank of America hit job there Soul
…or did you forget what happened to Spitzer?
Jill C., Zapkitty, et al, are right — there is absolutely nothing that will satisfy or convince those who desperately cling to the debunked “Obama birth certificate” insanity. At first it was just sad, but now the whole effort is increasingly funny and entertaining.
But it’s illuminating to see just who bravely eschews all evidence to the contrary to pursue their patriotic duty — not least of which, as Jill C. points out in the blog item above, is Clarence Thomas, Supreme Court Justice for life.
Hey, “Obama Birth Certificate Truthers”: why is the evidence presented in the following links (and elsewhere, ad nauseum) insufficient for your needs? What would be sufficient evidence, in your eyes? What is it you believe reallllllly happpennnnnnned?!?!?!1! And specifically for JEA at #1, at what point does carrying on this birth certificate witch hunt in the face of much evidence to the contrary cross over to bearing false witness?
Obama’s Birth Certificate Verified By State
The truth about Obama’s birth certificate.
Obama birth certificate truthers need to get deeply involved in the Republican Party and infiltrate at all levels, because only then can the GOP fully investigate this mystery, and only through a GOP investigation can the findings be legitimate. The truth is out there and you must find it!!!!!1!!!!!
Are you talking about a setup? Explain. How does it tie to Spitzer, I obviously missed something.
Flo – OK, I see the tie to the worker sit-in with Republic Windows and Doors…but the article says Blagojevich has been investigated for 3 years – so where is the evidence for a setup by BoA? And I also read the stories about how Spitzer was behind fining BoA 675million over illegal trading.
However, how does that justify either Spitzer’s actions, or Blagojevich’s statements?
Nah, they use the dirty stuff that most every politician does and wait til they get out of line.
They’re only “in” as long as they stay in line I should say.
Funny it’s been only Dems having the bomb dropped on them when we know the Repugnants have way more soiled laundry…Whos DOJ is this? nevermind
According to Blue Gal over at C&L, his own staff turned him…he was that bad, a (P)rick Perry-Tx type.
Now back to the nutters
Flo – I guess the reality is that the adage about politicians is true – they’re all crooks and liars to some degree, and power corrupts. This is why we have to demand accountability from Democrats as well as Republicans. How can we demand this accountability from people like Pelosi and Obama when they are all tied into the corporate machine? Without popular revolution, I think we are generally screwed. I was actually hoping for complete economic collapse, destruction of the status quo, at least then we can rebuild in a way that identifies and rejects the elements of the current economic and political structures that are patently undemocratic and oppressive.
I wouldn’t raise the issue or religion, except that JEA already did.
JEA argues just like so many others who claim that “the world is only 6,000 years old,” and when you point them to SCIENTIFIC EVIDENCE of objects considerably older than that, they explain that “God PUT those objects there.”
This type of circular logic is scary.
All I would tell the Rethuglican and theocratic nutjobs out there about Obama is “don’t worry!” He’s not going to be nearly as liberal as you were scared into thinking he would be. He’s corporate-bought and paid for, just like the rest of them.
[ed note: Well, I deleted JEA’s comment because it was all over the internet, and I’m sorry it took me so long, but I really needed a nice extended sleep an so I did. –99]
Both candidates were born to U.S. citizens. Ergo, it doesn’t matter WHERE they were born. If Obama’s mom had not been a citizen, then, fine, the question of his actual birthplace is salient, but she was, so stow it.
I’d have loved to jump all over a technicality with McSenile’s birth in Panama, but his parents were citizens. He’s a goddam natural born citizen, just as Obama would still be had he been born out of the country. The fact that both he and Hawaii have been insisting he was born here doesn’t seem to penetrate, but, since his mother was a citizen, that means he could have been born on the moon and he’s still eligible to be president.
Tell your Mr. Obamma just to proove what they are saying is wrong and every one will go away.There is a reason that he is hiding info and every one knows it.He sure is showing is trust isn`t he? He just doesn`t have a birth cirtificate like every one else in this country.THE TRUTH SHALL SET HIM FREE.
… gaetano said…
(snip endlessly repeated falsehood)
The documents were produced… and the far-right wingnuts still howl.
Classic movie time:
“Children of the Right… SHUT UP.”
Free carbon dating for anyone who can source the paraphrased quote… 😉
IDIOT.
The purpose of this kind of thing is to control the news agenda, to keep us all from moving on to topics that would otherwise be even more damaging to the Republicans. The Grumpy Old People party is great at this. After all, it’s what they have to be good at, since reality doesn’t really work for them. This is just a source of smoke, and to deal with it at all just sucks you into their movie, crediting them, debating them, discussing them.
It’s like those the kind of “computer virus” where someone sends gets an email warning them that they may have been infected by a virus, and the way to tell is to go and look to see if a certain file is present. If it is, then they have already been infected, and they should first send email to all of their friends that they may also have been compromised, and then remove the file. Of course it’s the email itself that IS the virus, and removing the file harms your system making it hard to get back on the internet at all. My brother fell for that one. He probably heard from about 50 friends advising him that he was stupid, etc. The damage done was mostly in the amount of time that was spent by everyone explaining the thing, etc.
Let’s not get so taken up with these mosquitoes that we lose our focus on draining the swamp.
As soon as this one dies down, there will be something else. Count on it. Roll your eyes, shake your head, and post about something else.
Like for example:
Yesterday evening on NPR they reported about Don Siegelman, and ended by saying that the Bush administration had asked the Justice Department to investigate the situation. And then they dropped it, without the slightest hint that this was the most incredibly ironic bomb that had just been dropped. Anyone who is not already up to speed on all of it would thing, oh, good, they’ll be getting to the bottom of that, nothing to see here… We might talk about this for instance.
John
Wingnuts howl because wingnuts are
just wanna’-be dogs.
“Children of the Right… SHUT UP.”
Ah, the George Hamilton Dracula movie, “Love at First bite” (1979)
I just remember what all the republicans said after the 2000 appointment of Bush ‘Get over it!’ Well it seems to me that it is now their turn to ‘Get over it!’
Clarence Thomas being the droid that he is for the GOP; must have some skeletons in his closet since his appointment to the Supreme Court. I always believed that the only reason that nothing has surfaced was because of the tide.
Now that the pendulum has swung, I wonder if revelations of any sorts may begin to surface.