Obama and the birthers!

[ILoveJoeJonastt]

I saw on the news that Barrack Obama has had to produce his birth certificate to prove that he was born in the USA. All because some conspiracy theorists though he had been born in Kenya and not where he stated he had been born! I was in total shock that because of a few idiots/racists the most powerful elected official in the world had to prove his origin of birth! Do the majority of US citizens condone this type of behaviour towards their coofftopicnder in chief?
Another thing, why does someone have to be born in the USA to be president anyway? Surely if you have become a US citizen it shouldn't matter where you were born, the fact that you are now chosen to live there and to take on citizenship of that country shows your commitment to that state?

 

[D1111]

Osu,


The US Constitution demands that the President be born in the USA.
What is shocking IMO, is that he was allowed to take office without first establishing his credentials without doubt!
............... Just Politics and how that game is played!

BTW GB-UK, I find your post hilarious in view of your handle and avatar... Just sayin'



Osu!

 

[TerryL]

Yes, God chooses who is going to be born a Geordie!! Where all very special people!

 

[HiMyNameis]

Obama had already proven his credentials to everyone that mattered. Or do you think the FBI just leaves this kind of thing to chance? Do you not think that place of birth might appear somewhere on the candidate vetting checklist? Is it not likely that it is one of the first things that gets checked?

Birtherism is just thinly veiled racism, plain and simple. It's not acceptable for people to say that a black man can't or shouldn't be eligible for the office of President, but if you wrap that sentiment up in a conspiracy about birth certificates etc etc, then it suddenly becomes a lot more palatable when said out loud.

John McCain didn't receive this amount of scrutiny and he wasn't born in the US.

 

[Millicent]

Because we are Citizens and not Subjects of the Crown.

Because we are a nation of laws & not of men - or cults of personality.

And the prime law of the land in the USA states:

From Article Two, Section 1:
No person except a natural born Citizen, or a Citizen of the United States, at the time of the Adoption of this Constitution, shall be eligible to the Office of President; neither shall any Person be eligible to that Office who shall not have attained to the Age of thirty-five Years, and been fourteen Years a Resident within the United States.

Basically the Founding Fathers didn't want an agent whose allegiance was to a foreign crown or power in the big chair. It has worked pretty well - until maybe 2008 ?!?

Is it an obsolete clause and should it be removed because it discriminates against a small subset of the body politic? There is a mechanism to modify The Constitution - and it was designed to be extremely difficult.

 

[AngiXD]

Osu,


Hummmmmm, obviously not to everyone's satisfaction...
But hey, go in peace my friend, I don't have a horse in that race, I just watch US Political gesticulations with an eternally regenerated smile and facepalm!
(With the circus over there, I don't think the Chinese want democracy!)


Osu!

 

[me24/7]

I think its obsolete, if your good enough to become a citizen then you should be able to run for office as well. I was under the impression that the USA was the land of opportunity, that even the lowest street urchin could through hard work rise to great heights. But not to the highest office because you weren't born in the country that has adopted you and given you the breaks you may not have received in your country of birth!

That is an aside to the main topic point though! As holyheadjch has said the people who matter obviously had already checked into this so why is it an issue? I believe its racism, pure and simple. And why raise the issue of Islam as well? So what if he was a Moslem, or is that another clause that you cannot be president unless your a Christian?

 

[gameface5253]

Wasn't John McCain behind this new drive to get him to release the info? Never knew he wasn't born in the US so I'll laugh if he was behind it. It does worry me though that this is the sort of thing politics in America is made up of. The "violent rheotoric" stuff I was fine with but there's a long list of things you could argue with each other about and they picked that...

EDIT: Just remembered it was Trump not McCain

 

[jeriuana]

This was all sorted to everyone who mattered's satisfaction in the run up to the election. The whole fuss then seemed to come about as a desperate reaction to Obama defeating McCain as an attempt to justify deposing the legally elected president.

All in all, it was ridiculous that it went on as long as it did when official documents had already been released and when senior state officials in Hawaii had already confirmed the legitimacy of his claim to have been born a citizen.

Even from the UK, the birther movement are basically a laughing stock.

 

[Legolas]

what's shocking is that you and others believe that he hasn't established his credentials. the man has made all his birth certificate available for years. somehow, that's not enough. racist enough?

 

[Jawbreaker]

Osu Giovani,


I am not interested in & have little taste for personal attacks over a forum.
I said that obviously, what Obama presented did not satisfy everyone - He had not established credentials without doubt: see the controversy that lasted 3 years!
I also said that I did not have a horse in that race...

YOU believe what you might, BUT if you ever wanted to apply for a visa to the United States, your paperwork had better be in impeccable order... I trust that the same applies for anyone running for the highest office.

Have a great day Giovani.


Osu!

 

[BobO]

He established them beyond all reasonable doubt. There's not a lot he can do about being black, which is the real crime he is being accused of. On that count, he is guilty.

 

[Logic]

I was personally thinking "Sure those who run the candidacy elections, would check if you are eligable for office?"

When you fill your application (i'm guess theres a form, there always is) surely theres a question that says





Otherwise, what the hell is stopping Arnie?!

Now that Obama has provided proof, doesnt mean the conspiracy theorists will stop. They'll probably say... Oh he forged it.

 

[SlapshitraJames]

oh i'm having a great day, watching birthers continue to convolute themselves into a tizzy. the man made documentation available years ago. two officials of the state of hawaii personally looked at the documents and verified them. apparently, none of that is enough for some people. i have no problem saying that if you don't believe that the man has "without a doubt" established his natural born citizenship, you're an idiot.

 

[TaylorD]

OSu,

I did not realize that Obama was accused of being black........

Osu!



Osu,


ROFL!
That's what she said!


Osu!

 

[girlygirl8]

want to have some fun today? check it...

www.wnd.com

www.infowars.com

oh, there's more too, just google "obama birth certificate". amazing how once a person turns on the idiot button, how it can't be turned off. the man has provided what they've been asking for all along, the "long form". but now it's mutated into layers of the pdf, pixels, school records, african race, kenyan father's citizenship, blah blah blah.

it was truly a brilliant move by the obama team. in one fell swoop, he de-legitimized the entirety of fox news, sarah palin, donald trump, john boehner, eric cantor, michelle bachman, newt gingrich, the other conspiracy theorists, and many, many more including the dozen or so state legislatures that are debating a birther bill.

 

[Gr33nGr3m1in]

if the shoe fits....

 

[chris_ittner13]

I find the argument that just because someone wants to see his proof of citizenship that they are racist, to be a bit over reaching and has no basis in truth. I had no doubt he was eligible for the job, or he would not have been able to take the oath. However, his elusiveness in providing the certificate did not help his cause. He was just being stubborn and for no reason. I wanted to see the certificate, and I have no problem with a black, oriental, american-indian, latino or otherwise person being president as long as they are eligible to serve.




----Edit----

Yes I'm a white male American (I have 1/8 Cherokee as well in me). I would vote for a black man, I would vote for a Women....

 

[anarcho4]

it's this kind of nonsense that really pisses me off. the man made all his documentation available years ago during the campaign. he has not been elusive at all. the same document that anyone else would have to provide, was provided. but yet, you're blaming the victim of the smear campaign. finally he had enough. but even now, it's not enough.

 

[AlvinL]

One of those conspiracy theorists is a leading Republican presidential candidate in 2012 (Donald Trump). This fringe movement isn't so fringe anymore. It's ridiculous.



No. But this vocal minority is VERY vocal.



They don't. That's the biggest absurdity. They have to be a natural-born citizen (as opposed to naturalized citizens, who takes citizenship on later in life), but they don't have to be born in the United States. Barack Obama's mother, Ann Dunham, was American. Thus he was an American citizen REGARDLESS of where he was born. That's the biggest absurdity of this whole birther thing.

There was a movement a decade back to allow naturalized citizens to run for president (namely, so Arnold Schwarzenneger could run for president). I support that change, and not because of Ahnold. I believe that a naturalized citizen should have EVERY right that a born citizen does. It would take a constitutional amendment to make that change, though, and it never made it through that process.