Posted on 01/02/2011 7:13:09 AM PST by Kaslin
Neil Abercrombie is not an American household name.
But he sure did grab some “name-making” headlines recently, when he spoke to the New York Times.
In what is theoretically a “slow” period for news (the last couple of weeks of the year), Hawaii’s newly inaugurated Governor sat down with Sheryl Gay Stolberg of the New York Times. In the interview, the Governor addressed some serious issues – like the fact that the tiny state of Hawaii is facing an enormous $71 million deficit, and that Hawaii’s public education system has been so mismanaged that teachers are being furloughed so as to avoid layoffs and class time reductions.
But, not surprisingly, the issue that captured hearts and minds was Governor Abercrombie’s personal and passionate rebuke of the so-called “birthers” - that’s the derogatory nick name given to those who question whether or not President Obama was born in Hawaii, as he claims he was, and therefore question Obama’s constitutional eligibility for the presidency.
I suspect that Governor Abercrombie’s remarks about “birthers” will end up making matters worse, and not better (a point that I’ll get to in a moment). And I think that the Governor’s remarks on the topic illustrate some of the things that Americans find most disgusting about politicians (I’ll explain that in a moment, as well). But before I go further, let me make it clear where I stand on the issue.
Barack Obama is not the only President who has had his “eligibility” questioned. Some credible historians believe to this day that our 21st President Chester Arthur was actually born in Canada, and not Vermont as he claimed, and thus never should have been elected (a subject I detailed in my book “White House: Confidential”).
When I first heard rumblings that instead of being born in Hawaii, Barack Obama may have been born in Kenya, I did some research. If the rumors were true, then there must have been convenient air transportation between Honolulu and Kenya, to secretly carry baby Barack in to the good ol’ U.S.A. – right?
Well, at the time of Obama’s birth in 1961, Hawaii had been a state for less than two full years. And I have found no evidence that there was any air transportation available between the 1 year and 11 month old state of Hawaii, and the East African nation of Kenya. Even today there are relatively few airlines flying between Honolulu and Mombasa, and ticket prices start at a staggering (and prohibitive) $2,800+.
Additionally, the “birther” theories have proven to be politically unviable. Barack Obama ran for the presidency against three very powerful and well-connected individuals – former President Bill Clinton and Senator Hillary Clinton (make no mistake, both Bill and Hillary were running against Barack), and Senator and Republican presidential nominee John McCain. All three of these people had plenty of personal incentive to “bring down Obama,” and yet apparently none of the three could “prove” that he was born outside the U.S.
Oh, and let me also note that the “birther” conspiracies have been rejected thus far in every court and in every state in which they have been raised. I know that judicial activism is a real and serious problem, but there is no reason to believe that, suddenly, all of America’s sitting judges have decided to cooperate with each other.
And guess what? Some of the most high-profile personalities in the world of “conservative media” dismissed the “birther” conspiracies long ago. Rush Limbaugh, Michael Medved, Glenn Beck, Hugh Hewitt, and Bill O’Reilly (just to name a few) have all, in their unique and individual ways, declared the “birther” thing to be a non-issue.
So why do President Obama’s political allies continue to talk about it, when so many of his political foes do not? I suspect that they’d prefer to have Americans talking about a non -issue, instead of high unemployment, or nuclear proliferation in Iraq, or the rising price of healthcare despite the “Obamacare” legislation, or the President circumventing the Congress and forcing cap-and-trade policies via the F.D.A., or the dangerous national debt level, or the President’s effort to control the internet, or the volatility of the American dollar.
As for Governor Abercrombie – he may have created more trouble than he alleviated. Noting that he was friends with Barack Obama’s mother and father, Mr. Abercrombie stated that “there’s no reason on earth to have the memory of his parents insulted by people whose motivation is solely political…” His statements remind us that when one spends their lifetime running for and holding elective office, one can begin to assume that the acquisition of more political power is the only thing that ever motivates people. The notion that some folks may be legitimately concerned with the preservation of the U.S. Constitution apparently isn’t a consideration for the Governor – and Americans, generally, are fed-up with politicians of this sort.
I am “done” with politicians like this, and I’m “done” talking about President Obama’s birth certificate. But I suspect that the President’s “friends” are not.
I’m a “paleo-birther” and I’m suspicious of the democrat’s sudden desire to talk about it.
Governor Moonbeam for CA, this clown for HI.
Politics obviously doesn’t provide a lure for the bright, does it?
They know that if they don’t address this now, Saul Alinsky style, it will bite them in 2012.
The memo has already gone out to their sycophants in the driveby media too.
I am guessing that this issue is not settled yet, and that the HoR will take it up soon. If they do, then Roberts and others will have a field day with it at SCOTUS. Odumbo has not caught on to the idea that you have to be careful of what toes you step on today, because they may be attached to the ass you have to kiss tomorrow.
Actually I was thinking of Cass Sunstein’s suggestion that these things could be used to create distractions and divisions.
Perhaps it is akin to Watergate in that the cover-up is worse than the crime. This is what steams people.
So this libtards author’s ‘proof’ that Obama was born in Hawaii was his inability to find out if their was Airline service to Hawaii?
And his second ‘proof’ is that the (liberal) courts havent let anyone challenge it? So that means it must be true?
How about a nice simple ‘proof’ and SHOW US THE BC (he claims to have one and it is sealed in Hawaii)
Liberalism is a mental desease.
The bright are trying to make a living.
While I don't believe that 0bama will ever release his birth certificate, this is a non-issue. The birth notice in the local Hawaii paperproves he was born there. Definitions of "natural born" make MEGO.
I'd add it's also possible and plausible that this renewed interest in Obamalamadingdong's BC is a Clintonista effort.....
What an idiotic statement. There were no direct flights to Luanda, Angola when I flew there in 2001 but I got there by air. It is called connecting flights.
With the entire resources of the federal government and the total slavish worship of government employees everywhere, there is no way they couldn't recreate whatever they want.
That includes the original Constitution with a "newly discovered" clause appointing the muslim poser president-for-life...
Prepare to bow down, like it or not. The double standard for tolerence of everything un-American has come home to roost, and it's a vulture.
There was a birth announcement for me in a city I wasn’t born in.
You are exactly right...they have to get in front on this ASAP...without actually releasing it. Either it isn’t there...or there is something very embarrassing on it.
Strange...is it not...that Chris Mathews would be bringing this up? Like the Swiftboat charges with Kerry...this issue remaining in the background can finish The One. They have to find a way to explain it.
The artificial aging of the forgery is almost complete.
Who is to say when baby Obama first showed up in Hawaii? Is there a picture of baby Obama in Hawaii or some other evidence along with a date?
In my opinion, the reason it is being brought up is a preemptive move to give congress pause on addressing the issue.
Somewhere, someone is creating Bambi’s new life. It isn’t only a birth certificate. It is passports, college records, grades, the works. And as we know, it can be done, especially with a compliant media to push it to the American people.
Whether it is true or not is irrelevant.
What is true is human nature. No congresscritter is going to touch this if there is even a hint that Bambis records have been recreated and they can prove his citizenship, grades, benefactors, etc.
We have to keep our eye on the ball. Nothing in the MSM has changed from 2008. We know what they are going to do because it is in “Rules for Radicals.”
You sure are easily swayed. Surely, you can think of a few reasons why non-official announcements in a local paper might not be proof.
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