Posted on 12/06/2008 9:43:49 PM PST by pissant
The continuing efforts of a fringe group of conservatives to deny Obama his victory and to lay the basis for the claim that he is not a legitimate president is embarrassing and destructive. The fact that these efforts are being led by Alan Keyes, an unhinged demagogue on the political fringe who lost a senate election to the then unknown Obama by 42 points should be a warning in itself.
This tempest over whether Obama, the child of an American citizen, was born on American soil is tantamount to the Democrats' seditious claim that Bush "stole" the election in Florida and hence was not the legitimate president. This delusion helped to create the Democrats' Bush derangement syndrome and encouraged Democratic leaders to lie about the origins of the Iraq War, and regard it as illegitimate as Bush himself. It became "Bush's War" rather than an American War with destructive consequences for our troops and our cause.
The Birth Certificate zealots are essentially arguing that 64 million voters should be disenfranchised because of a contested technicality as to whether Obama was born on U.S. soil. (McCain narrowly escaped the problem by being born in the Panama Canal zone, which is no longer American.)
What difference does it make to the future of this country whether Obama was born on US soil? Advocates of this destructive campaign will argue that the Constitutional principle regarding the qualifications for President trumps all others. But how viable will our Constitution be if 5 Supreme Court justices should decide to void 64 million ballots?
Conservatives are supposed to respect the organic nature of human societies. Ours has been riven by profound disagreements that have been deepening over many years. We are divided not only about political facts and social values, but also about what the Constitution itself means. The crusaders on this issue choose to ignore these problems and are proposing to deny the will of 64 million voters by appealing to 5 Supreme Court Justices (since no one is delusional enough to think that the 4 liberal justices are going to take the presidency away from Obama). What kind of conservatism is this?
It is not conservatism; it is sore loserism and quite radical in its intent. Respect for election results is one of the most durable bulwarks of our unity as a nation. Conservatives need to accept the fact that we lost the election, and get over it; and get on with the important business of reviving our country's economy and defending its citizens, and -- by the way -- its Constitution.
Oh please! That’s a ridiculous argument. If he released his birth certificate for validation and it proved that he was a natural born citizen then that would be the end for 95% of conservatives. So to suggest that Obama doesn’t gain from that is absurd.
Try a logical argument next time.
David and Malkin etc. need to care more about our Constitution then about the idiots that voted for Obama. This is shocking to me how little these people care or respect our Constitution.
If he were born of an American mother on US soil, I think that makes him a natural born citizen.
BTW, I’ve seen the stuff about her being underage and all that stuff. But most everything I’ve seen makes whole cloth out of thin fabric.
Seeking the truth about something of such great consequence can’t be wrong.
If the beautiful and inspired words of our Constitution no longer matter, then the game is over, folks.
Admittedly, I don’t think for a nano second that any of the investigations are going to keep Obama from the presidency, nor do I believe that the Court is going to even bother with the claims, but the American people deserve to know the truth of the matter.
We need to know that our constitution is still relevant and in full force, and if it’s not to those in power, then it’s difficult for me to see us surviving as a country.
If the Court were to find that Obama is in compliance and they rule in his favor, then so be it.
And to think, all that arrogant a$$ had to do was provide the proof of his citizenship. Perhaps like is wife, he too is not yet proud to be and American.
My point is that from Obama's point of view it is rational behavior. It makes political sense for him to ignore the controversy and treat it as unworthy of public comment. That's why he doesn't take the seemingly simple step of producing a true, original birth certificate if indeed he has it. By refusing to do so he infuriates his right-wing critics, but he infuriates them anyway, so why should he care?
The Obama camp keeps putting up extreme strawman arguments for not doing something, then acts as if these arguments are true.
Let's see the hospital birth certificate, and deal with the deniers afterwards, rather than anticipate deniers and use that as an excuse to not release the certificate.
-PJ
Alan Keyes' case is the sole case with legal "standing": As a Presidential candidate, he was affected by Obama's alleged failure to meet the natural-born clause of the Constitution.
It does not make sense from his point of view. Your logic is convoluted in support of that theory. It does not benefit him in any way to unnecessarily feed rancor and dissent on the right.
“Can it be that they’ve been ‘safe’ for years, not going too far with any comments, now they are horrified at this “fringe” who are exposing something (that should have been exposed long ago) that they don’t dare to touch?”
I suspect that is part of it as well as the fear of being embarrassed. If push comes to shove they will be the followers and ordinary people will have to assume the role of leader. Our leaders are flat out gutless.
If that's the case... let the twitching accelerate.
Well too many wanted him. Are you saying liberals are crooked? Gasp! Even Alan Colmes said "even though Acorn registered many voters multiple times doesn't mean they voted multiple times. It's not illegal to register 50 times". Would he lie? (heavy sarc/)
The point is that Obama invites this speculation by not releasing his birth certificate. McCain released his, so there was no speculation about his birth details.
You also have to look at the speculation deriving from his refusal to release his college records, too. Again, speculation as to why he refuses to release college records is that he applied for foreign student aid. Speculation, true, but he invites it when all the other candidates but him release these records. I know that I had to release my college transcripts to my employers before being hired, why does Obama feel he doesn't have to do the common things that the rest of us do?
-PJ
I first heard of FR during the Florida recount, when a reporter beclowned himself by mistaking a big bunch of 'Sore Loserman' signs for the real thing. It was great. 'I want to be a part of that' said I. But I don't want the likes of the bots on the left pulling that on me. So I'll stick to the facts, which are scanty, at best. My wilder conjectures though, are shared by a lot of those who voted for him, so mass media or not, this ain't going away peacefully.
I don't think that...I just think it will never be answered if it hasn't been already. The left makes a life out of disrespecting the Constitution...we'll be lucky if there is anything left of it after this administration takes office....
He was deeply entrenched in the Left during the sixties. Maybe he feels threatened because “that crowd” is now in power.
So why didn’t he produce it last spring or so when McCain showed his? Before a real controversy grew? Just arrogant, or the wrong country on the BC? Kenya?
present
That's an interesting comment, if Colmes said it to defend Acorn.
It might not be illegal to register the same name at the same address 50 times. I'd think it is illegal to register the same name at multiple addresses, or 50 people at the same residential address. It the very least, it should be perjury when signing the attestation of accuracy on the form.
-PJ
If Obama is that much of a threat then any & all avenues of (legal) resistance should meet with your approval, especially those with 6 orders of magnitude worth of leverage and the (minute) possibility of kicking that POS to the curb. You fight on your side of the street, I’ll fight on mine. Per your tagline, we are taking tons of flak, just look at the idiot “conservative” who wrote this article. So you go and find your fight and take your flak rather than giving it to your foxhole buddies.
That’s it...and it applies to most of the material related to this whole issue.
“I heard that...” and speculation are what makes DU, Kos and Huffington Post spend hours on end on the “fact” that Sarah Palin’s baby is really her daughter’s baby. Sarah could end that speculation by...??? But it doesn’t make any difference, the speculation continues up to yesterday, at least.
That’s what I would hope would separate FR from all the others. It won’t, but my gosh, if we could just refrain from wild-eyed speculation and go whole hog on it on thread after thread.
And yes, I would like Obama to be forth-coming on a number of issues, and John Kerry, and believe it or not, George Bush hasn’t put to rest all questions raised about him, either.
I just want FR to be better than DU, and sometimes we aren’t.
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