Posted on 07/24/2009 2:32:56 AM PDT by 2ndDivisionVet
Among those on television who've been covering the sudden public resurgence of the Birther movement -- but in a much more responsible way than Lou Dobbs -- is MSNBC's Chris Matthews. The other day, he beat up pretty badly on Rep. John Campbell, R-Calif., who's a co-sponsor of the "Birther bill" that would require future presidential candidates to provide proof of their natural-born citizenship. Thursday, he hosted Watergate burglar turned radio host G. Gordon Liddy, who's fallen under the Birthers' sway.
Liddy himself looked decidedly unwell, and sounded out of sorts -- even Matthews seemed to realize that making him into a piñata would be unsporting. I'm not going to do it either, but you can watch the video below.
I'm posting on the appearance, though, because of something Liddy said during it: "You've got a deposition, which is a sworn statement, from the step-grandmother, who says, 'I was present and saw him born in Mombasa, Kenya.'"
Liddy got this particular myth a little garbled, but it's a favorite of the Birthers'. I've covered it before, but it's worth posting on now, I think, because cable news is just getting back to this story (there was some coverage late last year, when the Supreme Court declined to hear one of the Birther lawsuits) and hosts like Matthews don't know all the crazy twists of the conspiracy theory well enough to knock them down.
What Liddy was referring to is actually an affidavit filed by a street preacher named Ron McRae, who conducted an interview with Sarah Obama, the second wife of President Obama's grandfather, through a translator. (Sarah Obama is not the president's biological grandmother, but he calls her "Granny Sarah.")
In that interview, Sarah Obama does in fact say at one point that she was there for her grandson's birth. But that was a mistake, a confusion in translation. As soon as a jubilant McRae began to press her for further details about her grandson being born in Kenya, the family realized the mistake and corrected him. And corrected him. And corrected him. (The audio is available for download here.)
No matter, though, because people who believe in a conspiracy theory simply hear what they want to hear. So some Birther sites have posted transcripts and YouTube clips that end abruptly with the mistranslation and don't include the corrections. McRae, for his part, included the full translation in his affidavit -- he thinks it's all just part of the conspiracy. "Some few younger relatives, including [translator Vitalis Akech Ogombe]," McRae wrote in his court filing, "have obviously been versed to counter such facts with the common purported information from the American news media that Obama was born in Hawaii."
Here's the conversation:
MCRAE: Could I ask her about his actual birthplace? I would like to see his birthplace when I come to Kenya in December. Was she present when he was born in Kenya?
OGOMBE: Yes. She says, yes, she was, she was present when Obama was born.
MCRAE: When I come in December. I would like to come by the place, the hospital, where he was born. Could you tell me where he was born? Was he born in Mombasa?
OGOMBE: No, Obama was not born in Mombasa. He was born in America.
MCRAE: Whereabouts was he born? I thought he was born in Kenya.
OGOMBE: No, he was born in America, not in Mombasa.
MCRAE: Do you know where he was born? I thought he was born in Kenya. I was going to go by and see where he was born.
OGOMBE: Hawaii. Hawaii. Sir, she says he was born in Hawaii. In the state of Hawaii, where his father was also learning, there. The state of Hawaii.
(VIDEO AT LINK)
All I want is an actual birth certificate. That would end the controversy right there. Why no one from the Obama camp can seem to produce a birth certificate is a mystery to me...unless he was not born in the U.S. as he claims.
I’ve said this many times. It’s easy to get a certified copy of your birth certificate. I had to get one some months ago, and it was easy (a completed form, a check for $10 and an SASE). I would imagine that the state of Hawaii has a similar procedure (maybe the fee is different???). So I don’t know why this has to be a big deal...unless MR. Obama was not born in the U.S.
And by the way, Salon is a rag, pure and simple. Wouldn’t trust anything it tells me.
Could you please provide a link to the law that states that in order for one to be a "natural born citizen" that both parents must be U.S. citizens at the time of their birth?
I hate to say it, but this guy has a point. It is readily apparent that neither Obama’s step-grandmother nor the Kenyan ambassador actually claimed that Obama, Jr. was born in Kenya. However, all sorts of birthers with overactive imaginations will claim that they swore affidavits, erected statues, etc., etc., etc..
Some people are so intensely desirous of a magic way to discredit socialism that they suspend disbelief.
In fact, the only way to defeat Obama and his ideology is politically and that involves much, much hard work, not card tricks.
Why doesn’t the left want to know exactly where Obama was born. What doctor brought Obama into this world. Seems like good historical data that they should desire.
This will tell you more than you want to know. http://people.mags.net/tonchen/birthers.htm
Or, as the case may be, lied. And lied. And lied.
Our political enemies have given us a gift - they have put a man who doesn't have an American birth certificate in the White House.
It's time to defend the rule of law and put those who vouched for Obama in prison: however many people (hopefully not you!) appear to be happy to yield another part of the Consititution over to the Socialists.
I agree..the issue is the father..he was not a US citizen when Obama was born and never made an effort to be.
This is correct, this man isn’t eligible under ANY CONCEIVABLE CIRCUMSTANCE considering his history. Despite this, since no-one seems willing to enforce our constitution out of fear of angering “a certain segment of the population”, I demand to see his long birth certificate. NOTHING ELSE WILL DO, and until such time, I consider the government of the USA to be both rogue and criminal. Those involved in this cover up are accessories to treason as far as I am concerned.
And with all that text in that link, there does not appear to be any legislation that defines natural born citizen.
And as I recall, Chief Justice Roberts and Justices Scalia, Thomas and Alito have had multiple opportunity to take the Obama NBC case and have refused.
We are to believe the “second wife of Obama’s grandfather” flew around the globe from Kenya - just to be at the mysterious non-existant hospital in Hawaii for his birth?
Doubtful.
Highly doubtful.
Sounds more like someone who, while speaking realizes they just let the cat out of the bag, and then clams up.
“Robbed a bank? I never robbed a bank”. When pressed repeats “I never robbed a bank”.
(”But you said...”)
“No I never robbed that bank”.
Straw man.
The Birthers have a tape recorded interview by a US Radio show where the Kenyan Ambassador says BO born in Keya, they also have recording of Grandma saying born in Kenya, they also hava affidavits. They are not, repeat not relying on the BS straw man referred to in the post. Poor try at discrediting.
That list would be long and include; Dick Cheney, George W. Bush, John Roberts, Justice Scalia, John McCain, Sarah Palin, John Boehner and every Republican member of the House and Senate and every GOP governor.
Do a small portion of 13% of the population really want to pick a fight with the majority? That sounds suicidal to me. Yes, many in that majority are sheeple, have "white guilt", are lefties, don't care, voted for Obama, are fencesitters, etc. But many are not. Does Mr. Obama know he's playing with fire on this, or is this the ACORN community organizer/Chicago Daley machine pol that thinks he's untouchable or is he just that obstinate and dumb?
Those involved in this cover up are accessories to treason as far as I am concerned...... and your point?
That list would be long and include; Dick Cheney, George W. Bush, John Roberts, Justice Scalia, John McCain, Sarah Palin, John Boehner and every Republican member of the House and Senate and every GOP governor.
Sropped reading right there....
as far as I am concerned, there are 535 accessories in DC alone
It would then appear to be an very immense cover-up.
a very big country would take a very big group to over throw it
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