The Birthers Will Be Back Soon Here Is Why

The World Net Daily is saying that the Barack Obama's MySpace page has his age as 52. They write:

"A new wrinkle in the dispute over his birth – and whether he is eligible to be president under the U.S. Constitution's requirement that the president be a "natural born" citizen – appeared today when Obama's official MySpace page declared his age is 52, thus placing his birth year at 1957 instead of 1961 as has been claimed.

That would mean he would have been born during the archipelago's time as a territory of the U.S., the islands' status from about 1900 until statehood in 1959."

Now the story will be he was not born in Kenya but in Hawaii but it was not a state. So he can't be president.

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Gary Kreep, Attorney at Law

The birthers have the best names. They have two lawyers with names that could come out of a Mike Myers movies or the next Naked Gun movie, Gary Kreep and Orly Taitz.

The Washington Independent reports how the McCain Campaign dimissed these nutjobs and how McCain fought his own battle on this front.

The Daily Show on Taitz

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The birthers have a website???

The birthers have a website Sphere: Related Content

Jeffrey Goldberg Names The Nut Job Du Jour

Are Birthers the New 9/11 Truthers?

Bob Cohn recently tweeted the idea (I can't believe I just wrote that) that the new hip nutjobs are the birthers, and compared them to the now-out creationists. I get the point, but the more appropriate comparison might be to the 9/11 "truth" movement. Creationists don't believe in conspiracies; they just believe that dinosaurs are 5,000 years old. Birthers and 9/11 truthers (or, alternatively, "birfers" and "troofers") both believe that the government is out to get us.

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Impressions of News Conference III

I find it hard to believe that there will be no sacrifice needed on behalf of the currently insured Americans if these reforms are enacted.

I think he should have given a more adequate answer to the LA Times reporter's question about transparency.

Dissociated there was no question regarding the birthers. Sphere: Related Content

‘Birther’ Boom at The New York Times Is Worth A Visit

'Birther' Boom Sphere: Related Content

President Meets With Mormon Leader. Maybe They Know Where He Was Born.

President Obama sat down with Thomas S. Monson, president of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. They likely spoke about the posthumous baptizism of President Obama's mother. After that uncomfortable subject perhap they discuss where Barack Obama was born. Monson did present to the President "a detailed family tree in five leather-bound volumes." Can we have the birthers copied on that.


The Salt Lake Tribune

Thanks to Andy Lesage Sphere: Related Content

A Birther Responds: President Obama's Family Is Unusual

Here is a reader's response (via Facebook) to the post An Answer to Crazy Birthers; Amend Article II Section I.

"Thanks for the post, but it's hardly an answer, as you don't actually address the issue at all.
You do, however, play the race card. You imply that it's simply the fact that Mr. Obama is not white that prompts us to question his place of birth. And that's a cheap shot.
Mr. Obama was born to a woman separated from her Kenyan husband, a woman who went to see him shortly before Obama was born. Obama spent his early youth abroad, thinks of himself as a citizen of the world, and wrote an autobiography strongly focused on his absent father and his supposed African roots.
That's unusual. We've never had such an exotic candidate with such a peculiar personal story. Most past presidents have had two American parents.
So it's not unreasonable to ask to see some proof of his place of birth. What is unreasonable is that he steadfastly refuses to provide it. In fact, that goes beyond unreasonable: it's bizarre."

The reader believes I am taking a cheap shot and playing the "race card". His implication is that Barack Obama's race has nothing to do with the birthers ridiculous ideas. But he goes on to tell me that the reason the birth certificate is important is because President Obama is "exotic" and his family background is "unusual". These sound like code words but perhap this reader does not even recognize his own implication. I would concede that President Obama's family is not typical of past presidents but "unusual". This debate is bizarre. Sphere: Related Content

Implicit Support For Crazy People and A Non Issue

Why can't some republican talkers follow Mike Castle's example and just speak the truth about these nutty birthers. Here are two videos where republicans are nearly implicit in support for the crazy concerns of these people. The first is Liz Cheney with Larry King. The second is Chris Matthews speaking with Rep. Bill Campbell of California. Watching this you could think that the congressman had gun to head forcing him not to say that Barack Obama is a citizen of the United States.



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Adding Historical Context To The Birthers

John Avlon at The Daily Beast puts the birther craziness in some historical context.
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An Answer to the Crazy Birthers; Amend Article II Section I

The video of Rep. Mike Castle's recent town hall meeting in Delaware is scary. Scary because Castle did not know what to do and the woman ranting was not only crazy, but intensely passionate. Marc Ambinder of The Atlantic asks, "should The GOP Take The Birther Threat Seriously?" It is obvious from this video that Mike Castle might want to take it seriously but does he have to? Castle won the seat in 2008 by 23 percentage points. Barack Obama won Delaware by 25 points. Up until a few days ago he must have thought he was safe in 2010. This seems to point that Castle could ignore these crazy folks but as Ambinder points out:

Republicans have to be extra careful. If they give credence to the birthers, they're (not only advancing ignorance but also) betraying the narrowness of their base. If they dismiss this growing movement, they might drive birthers to find more extreme candidates, which will fragment a Republican political coalition ignorance but also) betraying the narrowness of their base. If they dismiss this growing movement, they might drive birthers to find more extreme candidates, which will fragment a Republican political coalition.

This crazy issue has raised a few questions about past presidential campaigns. In the past how have presidential candidates formally expressed their natural born citizenship? Did they at all? I think that it is important. What did they do beyond the prima facie evidence that they are white. It is troubling if being white is a sign of natural citizenship.

Also, if there are going to be efforts wasted to argue both sides of HR 1503 why not shift those efforts to change Article II Section I of the constitution to allow naturalized citizen eligibility for president. Does this restriction have any meaningful purpose today?

You can look at the bill specifics here http://www.govtrack.us/congress/bill.xpd?bill=h111-1503

Here is the list of cosponsor:

Rep. Marsha Blackburn [R-TN7]

Rep. Dan Burton [R-IN5]

Rep. John Campbell [R-CA48]

Rep. John Carter [R-TX31]

Rep. John Culberson [R-TX7]

Rep. Robert Goodlatte [R-VA6]

Rep. Kenny Marchant [R-TX24]

Rep. Randy Neugebauer [R-TX19]

Rep. Ted Poe [R-TX2]

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