A group of dull-minded racists, known as "birthers," are committed to the silly notion that President Obama was born in Kenya, therefore constitutionally ineligible to hold the highest office in the land.
President Barack Obama was born on August 4, 1961 in Honolulu, Hawaii, and the right wing lunatics that insist that he was born in Kenya are ignoring one incontrovertible fact that proves that Mr. Obama is an American citizen.
The birth announcement was published in both of Honolulu's daily newspapers.
The birth announcement of Barack H. Obaba was published in both the Honolulu Advertiser and the Star Bulletin on August 13, 1961. End of conspiracy theory. These announcements are archived on microfiche that anyone with a library card can read. They exist in dozens of libraries. They are not fake. Everyone reading this blog had a birth announcement in their local paper. That's how Aunt Millie knew to send your mom flowers.
The "mentally unstable ones" argue that the announcement is fake, but there is no plausible explanation for a fake birth announcement. There is absolutely no evidence suggesting a scheme to get a false notice published. There is no explanation as to why Mr. Obama's parents would want to go to that trouble, or more importantly, how they would have had the wherewithal to pull something like that off.
Did Barack Obama's mother look into her newly born son's eyes and think, "He's going to become the 44th President if we can make this look like he was born in Hawaii?"
The cornerstone of the "Obama was born in Kenya" movement rests on the testimony of an unnamed neighbor who said that no black baby was living in that house in August of 1961. That indisputable nugget of information certainly outweighs birth certificates and announcements.
These morons insist that they want to see the original birth certificate, not a copy, as if that would put the issue to rest. Does anyone think that the rabid, right-wing fringe will accept the original document as fact, rather than a forgery? No they won't.
If President Obama did produce the original, that would only fuel the conspiracy. The mouth-foaming Koolaid drinkers would say, "Why is the President producing this document now? Why not before the election? Did it take him this long to have a few public health officials murdered, so nobody could dispute the forgery?" These people "think" like this.
Obama's race, not his birthplace, is the real issue.
I'm going to be very blunt. The real issue here is vile, racist, and largely unspoken. In the view of most of the birthers, "Barack Obama is a n*****, and n****** should be butlers and maids at the White House, not the commander-in-chief." That's what's going on here, plain and simple.
These people hate the fact that the manager at their neighborhood Safeway is black, so how could they possibly accept an African-American president? They can't and they never will.
Their problem is that Barack Obama was elected (an inconvenient truth) by a large enough margin, and carried enough red states, that unlike Florida in 2000, the outcome can't be disputed.
Their hope to "Keep The White House White," rests on an absurd conspiracy fantasy that has zero chance of being true, but their hopes will live on in their double-digit IQ brains, as long as their seething exists.
ps
Hey Birthers, Barack Obama is having sex with a beautiful black woman, in the same bedroom that your hero, Ronald Reagan, slept in. Deal with it.
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Comments
In my mind, that's reason enough to recall their elections and replace them with someone who is honest and has some integrity.
Great post, Roger.
Rated....
wow... that does say it all! rAted!
Rated!
She's not a racist - or at least I don't believe she is - but she does seem to have a problem with Obama's "exotic" background. I think she believes he is "answering" to some "others" who actually "control" him. Who these people are or where they live isn't something I've been able to learn from her. It's sad but more important, it's damned scary.
Anyone want to start a pool on how long it'll take before OS's very own birthers start showing up and screeching at Roger?
Floyd's comment just above mine is hilarious. We have our share of plug ignorants and racists here too.
The rage in the voice of the "Birther" woman screaming at Rep. Castle "I want my country back!" is easy to recognize for those of us who have spent our live immersed in such environments.
You give the birthers too much credit when you say double digit IQ.
My favorite OS pigeon/birther/wingnut made this comment on Lauerman's birther post-
"The Certification of Live Birth that he DID show is not valid as it was granted to any baby living in Hawaii at that time REGARDLESS OF WHERE THEY WERE BORN. "
As if people wandered into the hospital, unsure if their baby was live or even born, and had to request confirmation. Well... maybe he's speaking from personal experience.
We won't have to worry about these morons much longer. The Nigerians are going to clean out their bank accounts and they'll starve.
These "birthers" are hair splitters extraordinaire. For example, usually ONE U.S. citizen birth parent makes one "natural born" regardless of where one is born. However...because Obama's mother was only 18 years old at the time of his birth, and the law at the time stated that if only one parent was a citizen, that parent must have resided in the U.S. for 5 years AFTER the age 16...then the "birthers" claim he is not a citizen.
However, since this clause (residency in U.S. for 5 years, after age of 16) ONLY applies to people born OUTSIDE the U.S...it doesn't apply to Barack Obama anyway...so, they begin to discredit his birth in Hawaii...I swear...it is a bunch of crap. I do wish, that at some point prior to this HOOHA that there would have been an amendment to Article II of the constitution allowing naturalized citizens as President...and the whole Goddamn mess would never have arisen...or maybe not! I think racists and nativists would have found another ugly way to assert their "superiority".
Even if he was born in Kenya, he would still be a U.S. citizen. The 5-year residency clause applies only to people who claims residency or resides outside the U.S. In other words, this would apply to someone who claims his or her income taxes outside the U.S. for instance. Thus, this would not apply to a person who travels outside the U.S. say for a few weeks and gives birth abroad, but still officially lives or resides in the U.S. This kind of clause was probably enacted to prevent people who became a naturalized U.S. citizen to move back home soon after and claim that his or her child is a U.S. citizen (born abroad).
When you apply for U.S. citizenship, you need to write down when and for how long you traveled outside the U.S. on your application (you may already know that). To qualify for becoming a U.S. citizen, you need to reside in the U.S. for 5 years as a permanent resident. For trips outside the U.S. below 6 months, it does not count towards the 5-year residency criterion (since it is assumed that you still reside in the U.S.).