Obama Birth Certificate Conspiracy | 07/22/2009 10:05 am

Obama Birth Certificate 'Birthers' Surface Again as President Tries to Ease Concerns Over Health Care (Videos)

Conspiracy over where Obama was born rages on; new legislation wants presidential hopefuls to provide proof of citizenship.

By The Staff at wowOwow.com

When President Obama gives a press conference pushing his health-care plan tonight, the controversy over where he was born likely will be the furthest thing from his mind.

The president will give a live press conference at 8 PM ET tonight, expected to be aired by all major networks, during which he will try to ease concerns of reluctant lawmakers and Americans over the plan to overhaul the nation’s health-care system. Obama wants "action" from Congress on the various bills being debated now, preferably before the August 8 congressional recess, but there are more indications that timetable may not be met.

Meanwhile, Obama’s birth certificate issue is apparently still the topic du jour of some people whom MSNBC’s Chris Matthews calls "nutcases." LA Times columnist James Rainey writes today about how CNN host Lou Dobbs took a call on his show last week from someone "musing darkly about President Obama ‘rushing all these programs through by whatever means,’ knowing he will soon be exposed as a fake, a fraud, a … Kenyan."

Instead of hanging up on the caller, Dobbs said, "Certainly your view can’t be discounted." Rainey writes: "So it went over the last week, with the bloviating interviewer offering the (nominal) credibility of his syndicated radio show, which airs on dozens of stations, and the CNN television brand as a platform for assorted wing nuts, whose conspiracy fulminations about Obama had previously been most virulent in the more disreputable reaches of the Internet."

The birth certificate issue is one that just won’t go away. Some believe the certificate offered up by officials in Hawaii — the place of Obama’s birth — isn’t authentic. A prerequisite for someone to be president in America is that he or she must have been born in the United States. Despite the then-Obama campaign and others slapping down these "conspiracy theories," they still persist.

Rep. Mike Castle, D-DE, recently had to deal with a question from a "birther," asking "why are you people ignoring his [Obama’s] birth certificate? He is NOT an American citizen." And she got resounding applause and cheers from the audience. Now, Rep. John Campbell, R-CA, has introduced a bill requiring presidential candidates to submit copies of their birth certificates. Although Campbell didn’t come out and say he thinks there’s merit to the argument that Obama may have not been born here, "Hardball" host Matthews accused him of fueling the conspiracy flames.

"What is going on that so many Americans doubt the obvious, that Barack Obama is a citizen, to the point that you felt it necessary to co-sponsor this crazy proposal?" Matthews asked Campbell. Campbell said his bill was "only looking forward." After Matthews accused Campbell of “feeding the wacko wing of the Republican Party,” Campbell said Obama was in fact born here, "as far as I know."

Watch Matthews’ exchange with Campbell below:

Here’s video of Castle’s interaction with a "birther":

759 Reader Comments (so far…) Sign In or Register to comment

Jon Stewart says it best, again…

http://www.thedailyshow.com/watch/wed-july-22-2009/the-born-identity

By Rebecca G on 07/23/2009 8:39 am

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Rebecca…I watched Jon Stewart’s video regarding "birthers" this morning, and I couldn’t stop laughing. Thank goodness that the theories of these "fringe" Republicans can be viewed with humor.

I would imagine that Republicans, who have genuine concerns about the direction the country is going and who have intelligent and thoughtful ideas about how to present the best candidates for voters to support in the next election, are praying that the "birthers" and their defenders will go away so the entire Republican agenda is not dismissed by mainstream Americans.

We need serious debate on the issues we are faced with, and we don’t need to be wasting our time defending or deriding "birthers" and their theories. It’s best that their rantings are viewed as fodder for comedy shows, and not for serious political conversations. Thanks goodness for Jon Stewart. It’s time to laugh at ourselves, get over this insane "grabbing at straws" political rhetoric being used by some, and become informed, fair-minded citizens with real ideas and solutions to share with each other.

By alice ruth on 07/23/2009 11:12 am

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Ya know, I think the Birthers have convinced me.

A man from Kenya tricked an American woman to move to Kenya and get pregnant by him then plant an article in a newspaper in 1961 with the sole intention of over throwing the U.S. Government.

What a perfect plan! All you need to do is have a baby then wait 47 years and in between he must become highly intelligent, go to the best schools, become a Lawyer, then a Politician then run for President of the United States and become the President, even though a black man has never gotten to that position.

What a brilliant, simple, believable and easily accomplished feat.

And all I needed to do was grab my power drill and drive it into my frontal lobe to make this bullcrap seem feasible.

By Rebecca G on 07/23/2009 8:54 am

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I like your thinking Rebecca G! And don’t forget… Obama Sr. also had to bring the state of Hawaii into collusion and all of the district court judges who have summarily dismissed all the birther suits as frivolous. Hey, that wouldn’t have been too hard to do, right?

By English Teacher on 07/23/2009 9:17 am

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A clever plot by the evil genius, Obama Sr. don’t you think? Too bad he didn’t live long enough to see it to fruition….

By DeBúrca obj on 07/23/2009 9:26 am

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Exactly DeBurca. But I will ask it again. If they truly believe they have an actual case, why don’t they just get the birth certificate by means of a subpoena? Oh wait, could it be that a subpoena requires probable cause, and so far no judge has found enough supporting FACTS around this frivolous little piece of embroidery to clear that very low bar?

By English Teacher on 07/23/2009 10:08 am

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LIBERAL CONSPIRACY, ET! they’ve been planning this for yeeeaaarrrsss……

By Amanda C on 07/23/2009 12:23 pm

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Rebecca G, you make me laugh. I swear I’m gong to have to drink my coffee out of a sippy cup!

By Carol Palinkas on 07/23/2009 12:41 pm

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I am the queen of sarcasm because i lack Tact.

I have a problem with uneducated people. I am a world traveller and multi-lingual. If this crap keeps up I’m heading to Leipzig real fast! Ich liebe Leipzig sehr, sehr mus!

Gib mir alles und noch mehr
Spr die Macht der schnen Leiden
Gib mir alles und noch mehr
Alles, was dir fehlt
Alles, was dich hlt
Alles, was nichts zhlt
Alles, was dich qult

By Rebecca G on 07/24/2009 1:48 am

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Jon Stewart is so good, no wonder he is considered the most trusted ‘news person’ in America!

Jon Stewart Eviscerates The ‘Birther’ Movement (VIDEO)digg & Track" class="b_pixie">stumble reddit del.ico.us

By DeBúrca obj on 07/23/2009 8:57 am

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The first part of the link "Jon Stewart Eviscerates The ‘Birther’ Movement (VIDEO)" is the correct link, the rest just came along with it and doesn’t lead to the video.

By DeBúrca obj on 07/23/2009 8:59 am

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Thanks Deb––by the way, am SO glad you’re back. Yes, Stewart, like Colbert, are so good at picking out the details that allow them to pin people down, like butterflies in the expert hands of a lepidopterist. Their observations are filtered through minds that are ever alert, never sentimental, and deeply suspicious of romantic cant. Stewart can sometimes be crudely sophomoric but I suppose that appeals to young audiences. Colbert is the clever one whose humor pierces through the hypocrisy and craziness that permeates the media. Aren’t we lucky to have them.

By phyllis Doyle Pepe on 07/23/2009 10:32 am

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this whole thing is retarded…. enough already, the man is in office. Let’s support him or impeach him…

By aud b on 07/23/2009 9:24 am

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Hi, everyone, I’ve been a little out of the Wowow loop lately but just peeked into this thread for a bit and want to add what I consider to be the definitive argument on this subject:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/07/23/jon-stewart-eviscerates-t_n_243383.html

Enough said.

By Dora M on 07/23/2009 12:58 pm

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Just my opinion here… I don’t care if the man is white or black. I don’t care if he’s Democratic or Republican. The problem is - his ideas are just not working. This whole health care idea - hello??? Socialism??? This country was founded on the idea of freedom and opportunity, that if you work hard, you will benefit from your efforts. Where in the Constitution does it say that you’ll be given a free ride? The definition of Socialism is as follows: "Any of various theories or systems of social organization in which the means of producing and distributing goods is owned collectively or by a centralized government that often plans and controls the economy." (Go ahead, look it up). So what all you Obama-faithful are supporting is the government controlling EVERYTHING. Is that really what you want? Everyone is so gung-ho about "change" that no one is questioning where this change will lead us. Socialism brings everyone down/up to the same level but does nothing for equality as we know it. With regard to these Socialist ideas, here’s the breakdown: we, the American taxpayers, will be responsible for everyone else in the country. So then people, who don’t work hard or who are currently living off the government, are given the same opportunities and tax benefits as those who worked their butts off to educate and better themselves, who took minimum wage jobs just to go to school, who possibly work 2 or 3 jobs to make ends meet ~ and now they are expected to be responsible for those who don’t work hard or who abuse the system? Is that right?? Is that fair?? There’s nothing wrong with helping those less fortunate than yourself but it should be a choice, not a law.

I am not nor was I a fan of Bush. However Obama certainly isn’t doing this country any favors. Has anyone out there heard any past President speak of a national deficit in the trillions?? Not even Bush managed to do that. Obama keeps pushing and pushing his agenda, regardless of the amount of money it will cost the American taxpayer. Again, THE AMERICAN TAXPAYER - meaning all of you bloggers and posters.

America is the land of opportunity, NOT ENTITLEMENT!!!!

By D L on 07/23/2009 2:35 pm