Birtherism Is Back - And It Is As Racist As Ever

Many of us expected to see racist attacks against Kamala Harris, now that she's been picked by Joe Biden to be his running mate. But the right-wing has set some kind of speed record.

Harris has only been Biden's choice for less than a week, and has not yet been nominated and voted on by Democratic convention delegates. But the racist attacks have begun, this time disguised as a rebirth of birtherism.

Here's how Karen Tumulty describes the start of the obscene attacks in The Washington Post:

Well, that didn’t take long.

A non-White American citizen born right here in the United States has gotten a spot on the Democratic presidential ticket, and the birthers have come scurrying out from whatever rock they have been living under since Barack Obama left office.

Within hours of former vice president Joe Biden’s announcement Wednesday of his history-making running mate, once-reputable Newsweek posted a story posing “Some Questions for Kamala Harris About Eligibility.”

The author, John Eastman, a conservative law professor, wrote that “some” are “questioning” whether Harris might be “constitutionally ineligible” to be vice president because, should she have to step into the presidency, she might not meet the Constitution’s Article II requirement that this country’s chief executive be a “natural born” citizen.

Jenna Ellis, who appears frequently these days on cable television as a “senior legal adviser” to the Trump campaign, quickly embraced this nontroversy, retweeting a link to Eastman’s article and later declaring Harris’s eligibility an “open question.” So we are left to assume that the president’s reelection campaign is on board with this line of inquiry, which is reminiscent of President Trump’s own leadership of the “birther” movement when it was first launched against Obama.

Harris is the daughter of immigrants. Her father (from Jamaica) and her mother (from India) were not citizens at the time of her birth in 1964. A birth that — Have I mentioned this? Stay with me here, because this is important — happened in Oakland, Calif., which was then and is now in the United States of America. That means Harris was a U.S. citizen from the first second of her life.

The theoretical and esoteric question of whether first-generation Americans are eligible to be president is booted around from time to time in law-professor circles. It’s something of a parlor game, rooted in case law from the 19th century. In the real world, it is made moot by history: At least a half-dozen U.S. presidents have been the sons of immigrants, a possibility that is actually part of the American Dream of opportunity that has lured people to our shores for centuries.

But — funny coincidence — it seems to arise in modern presidential politics only when the candidate in question is a non-White Democrat. . . .

Newsweek defends its decision to publish Eastman’s tripe, though it initially failed to include a relevant bit of biographical information: The author in 2010 ran for attorney general of California. He lost the Republican primary to a candidate who was subsequently trounced by … Kamala Harris.

Amid the backlash, Newsweek editors Nancy Cooper and Josh Hammer published a pushback in which they claimed, laughably, that Eastman’s argument “has no connection whatsoever to so-called ‘birther-ism.’ ”

Sure it doesn’t. And if you believe that, I have a bridge in Oakland I’d like to sell you.

Republicans And Trump Voters Still Believe The "Birther" Lie

This is both amazing and shocking to me. And it shows just how far the Republican Party has moved from reality. We have seen President Obama's birth certificate (both short and long forms), read the newspaper announcement of his birth, and had Hawaii officials assure us that he was born in their state. His American birth (and citizenship) has been proven beyond doubt.

But many Republicans still prefer to believe the "birther" lies that claim he was born in Kenya. That's the belief of 51% of Republicans -- and of 57% of Trump voters. Reality and facts mean nothing to these people. They believe what they want to believe.

The chart above was made from a recent Economist / YouGov Poll -- done between December 3rd and 5th of a random national sample of 1,500 adults, with a margin of error of 3.4 points.

Many Of GOP Are Unconnected To Reality

If you've wondered how those in the Republican base, especially those who don't have much, can continue to support the Republican Party, then let me enlighten you. It's because they don't have a connection to the real world. They have decided what they want to believe, and cling to those beliefs in spite of facts to the contrary. Facts don't really matter to these people.

The two charts above illustrate this perfectly. They made up their minds years ago that President Obama was not born in the United States, and many still claim to believe that -- in spite of both the short and long-form birth certificates being released, all the newspaper accounts of the birth, and the repeated assurances of officials in Hawaii. About 44% of all Republicans, 61% of Trump supporters, and 64% of teabaggers swear that the president was not born in this country.

And when it comes to a presidential candidate in their own party, Ted Cruz, they still want to deny reality. Cruz was born in Canada, but significant pluralities of all GOP groups believe he was born in the United States (and 55% of teabaggers believe that).

This should tell you all you need to know. A significant portion of the Republican base have no use for reason or logic.

These charts were made from a new Public Policy Polling survey -- done between August 28th and 30th of a random national sample of 572 Republicans, with a 4.1 point margin of error.

Plurality Of Republicans Say Obama Not Born In U.S.

If you still has any doubts that the Republican Party has managed to corral most racists and nut-jobs into joining their party, then the results of this Rasmussen Poll should remove that doubt. The survey was taken on July 16th and 17th of a random national sample of 1,000 adults, and has a margin of error of 3 points.

It shows that more Republicans believe the president was not born in the United States than believe he was -- a plurality of 41% (and another 21% say they are not sure). Only 38% are honest enough to admit the truth. And they cling to this ridiculous belief in spite of these facts:

* The president has been elected to that office twice by the American public.

* The president has provided both short and long forms of his official birth certificate.

* Hawaiian authorities, from the governor on down to local officials, have verified that the president was born in their state.

* Both newspaper and hospital accounts from that time verify his birth in Hawaii.

* The president has not been impeached by Congress (even though the GOP-controlled House hates the president and would have loved to have a justifiable reason to impeach him).

There is only one reason to maintain this ridiculous belief at this time -- irrational racist hatred. And that seems to be something the Republican Party has in abundance.

Most Birtherism Based On Dislike Of The President - Not A True Belief He Was Not Born In The United States

A new YouGov Poll queried 1,000 nationwide adults between February 8th and 10th to see if the idea that President Obama was not born in the United States is still alive in this country -- and sadly it is. The survey, which has a margin of error of 4 points, showed that 38% still say the president was not born in this country.

You may wonder how anyone can believe that at this point in time -- after birth certificates have been produced and verified by the Hawaiian state government, and newspaper accounts of that time reported the birth. But the survey asked another question that turned out to be very revealing. They asked of those who said he was not born in the U.S. -- Are you positive? It turns out that 61% of those "birthers" admitted that it was possible that he was born in the United States.

It turns out that most of the birthers are not guided by reality, but by their hatred of the president (racism?). And because they don't like him, they are willing to jump on the birthed bandwagon even though they know it probably isn't true. I think most of us have suspected this for quite a while -- that the birtherism was just thinly disguised racial hatred.

Race Is Still A Serious Issue For U.S. & GOP

Half a decade ago when President Obama was elected president of this country, there were many who said the United States was finally entering it's "post-racial" phase. We now know that was just wishful thinking. All the election of the first African-American president really did was to bring the racists back out from under the rocks where they were hiding, and give them the impetus to become a very vocal minority. It made it very clear that racist problems and attitudes are still very much alive in this country.

The Arthur Levitt Public Affairs Center at Hamilton College (in Clinton, New York) did a very interesting survey, which showed that racial attitudes (i.e., racial resentment) played a big part in the 2012 election (even bigger than in the 2008 election). The post-election part of the survey was done between November 7th and December 9th of 2012, and the results were released on May 21, 2013. They questioned 837 voters, and the poll had a margin of error of 3.4 points.

After studying the results of their survey, they have concluded that racial resentment played a big part in the last election. Before questioning the voters on how they voted, the respondents were first asked several questions -- questions which gauged their level of racial resentment (racism). The chart on top shows the results. Voters in the approximately one/third that had the least racial resentment voted overwhelmingly (nearly 100%), while voters with moderate racial resentment voted for Obama at a much lower level (slightly over 40%), and voters with the most racial resentment voted for the president at a very low level (slightly above 10%).

Now this doesn't mean that everyone who voted for Mitt Romney is a racist, but it does show that a large number of them are racist. Republicans are quick to deny that they are a racist party, and undoubtably there are many who are not racist in that party. But I submit that the racists have taken over the party in many states, and now compose the bulk of the party's base. That is why the party's policies are anti-minority and anti-immigrant -- and why immigration reform is unlikely to pass the Republican-controlled House.

This shouldn't surprise anyone. When President Johnson passed the civil rights laws in the 1960's, it angered the racists in this country. They fled to the Republican Party in droves, and Republican leaders (especially in the South where the GOP was very weak) accepted these racist voters with open arms. I don't think the Republican leaders at that time meant for the party to become one that trumpeted racist values. I believe they thought they could use those millions of racist voters to seize power, and then put them in the background between elections.

But it didn't work out that way. The millions of new racist voters were numerous enough to take over the party in the South, and through the teabagger movement have also taken over the party in many other states. Now the party is stuck between a rock and a hard place. If they disavow their anti-minority and anti-immigrant positions, they could lose a huge chunk of their base voters, probably to a third party. That third party wouldn't be big enough to gain much power, but it would be plenty big enough to devastate the Republican Party.

Frankly, I can't bring myself to feel sorry for the Republicans. As the old saying goes -- If you lay down with dogs, you get up with fleas. They happily lay down with the racist dogs, and now they have been infested with the racist policies that come with that. And there is no easy cure for that infestation.

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The same survey also examined "birtherism" -- the idea that President Obama was not born in the United States (even though all evidence shows clearly that he was born in Hawaii). Sadly the survey showed that the belief in "birtherism" has not subsided. It is just as strong as it was before the president released the "long form" of his birth certificate years ago. The poll also showed (not surprisingly) that the same racial resentment that reared its ugly head in the 2012 election, is also a primary factor in whether a person is a birther. This is clearly shown in the chart below. Note that the more racial resentment a person has, the more likely it is that they will be a birther.

  

Have Kansas Officials Lost Their Minds ?

All I can figure is that certain state officials in the state of Kansas have lost their damn minds! The Kansas State Objections Board (compromised of Secretary of State Kris Kobach, Attorney General Derek Schmidt, and Lt. Governor Jeff Colyer -- all Republicans) has decided it isn't sure that President Obama qualifies to be on the ballot in Kansas. This board is the body that makes decisions on whether people should remain or be removed from the ballot in Kansas, and they are reacting to a complaint from a single citizen in Manhattan -- a birther who thinks the president wasn't born in the United States.

This board should have immediately rejected this bogus and ridiculous claim, but they didn't. Instead, they have delayed their decision on whether President Obama should be removed from the Kansas ballot (leaving the Democrats with no presidential candidate in that state). They say they don't have enough information, and have sent requests to Hawaii, Arizona(?), and Mississippi(?) to "secure copies of the president's birth records". They have done this in spite of the following facts:

* The president has released both short and long forms of his official birth certificates.

* Hawaiian state officials have all stated those birth certificates are correct, and the president was indeed born in their state.

* The president's birth in Hawaii has been verified by Hawaiian newspapers at the time of the birth, and by doctors and nurses who were present at the birth.

* All "birther" court cases claiming the president was not born in the U.S. have been rejected by federal courts, and none of them have been accepted on appeal by the Supreme Court of the United States.

* The president's family (especially his grandmother and great-grandparents) have established roots in the state of Kansas -- the very state that now doubts his citizenship.

* Mr. Obama has now completed over three and a half years as president of the United States.

Add to this the fact that there is almost no chance of President Obama actually carrying the state of Kansas this November (a snowball probably has a better chance of surviving a summer in the Mojave Desert), and I have to wonder why these state officials are even bothering with the ludicrous objection from the Manhattan "birther". It simply makes no sense.

Have the teabaggers gained such a chokehold on the Kansas Republican Party that they can now force Republican state officials to do stupid and ridiculous things? Or have these officials just lost their damn minds? Either way, it's a sad commentary on the state of the Republican Party -- in Kansas and in the nation as a whole.

The Return Of "Birtherism"

Many of us had thought this issue was finally dead -- at least for reasonable people who understand the concept of facts and proof. The current president of the United States, Barack Obama, was born in the United States. This is confirmed not only by the release of both his short and long form (pictured above) birth certificates, but also by numerous officials in the state of Hawaii (his birthplace), nurses and doctors involved in the delivery, and newspaper accounts from Hawaiian newspapers in 1961. How much more proof is even possible (for anyone's birth)?

But in spite of all the facts, which provide proof beyond any reasonable doubt, it seems that "birtherism" (the ludicrous idea that President Obama was not born in the U.S.) is making a comeback -- among Republicans. And amazingly, this belief is more widespread among Republicans than it was before the president released his birth certificate.

A new YouGov Poll shows this rather ridiculous rebirth of the birtherism issue among Republicans. Previous polls showed that 25% of Republicans, before the birth certificate was released, believed President Obama was not born in the U.S. After the certificate was released, this number dropped to 23%. But a new poll shows that at the present time about 37% of all Republicans believe the president was not born in the united States -- that's nearly four out of every ten Republicans.

Why has this ridiculous belief resurfaced and increased among Republicans? I think it can be summed up in one word -- desperation. The Republicans are desperate to get the African-American president out of the White House because he offends their "white sensibilities" (i.e., racist tendencies). They are beginning to realize the collection of clowns running for their party's presidential nomination have no chance of defeating the president, so they are once again grasping at straws. How pathetic!

Perry Becomes A Birther

Rick Perry dropped by to visit Donald Trump the other day, probably to beg for money and hope Trump would put in a good word for him with the teabaggers (who seemed to like Trump while he was playing with the idea of entering the race). Then Perry gave an interview to Parade Magazine, in which he said he didn't know whether President Obama was born in the United States or not. Here are his actual words:

Governor, do you believe that President Barack Obama was born in the United States?I have no reason to think otherwise. 

That’s not a definitive, “Yes, I believe he”— 
Well, I don’t have a definitive answer, because he’s never seen my birth certificate. 

But you’ve seen his.I don’t know. Have I? 

You don’t believe what’s been released?I don’t know. I had dinner with Donald Trump the other night. 

And?That came up. 

And he said?He doesn’t think it’s real. 

And you said?I don’t have any idea. It doesn’t matter. He’s the President of the United States. He’s elected. It’s a distractive issue. 

Now all the media wants to talk about is Perry becoming a "birther". I don't believe it. Perry's not very bright, but he's not Tait/Trump stupid. He's just trolling for votes among the intellectually-challenged.

You have to understand what a disaster his presidential bid has been. He started out with a lead over everyone else, including Romney. But after the public found out about his views on Social Security and Medicare, and then watched his flailing around in the Republican debates, they started to have serious doubts about him. Since then, he fallen like a rock in the polls.

Perry knows he's not going to get establishment Republicans to vote for him -- Romney has that vote sowed up. But its not the establishment Republicans who will be picking the candidate this year -- its the teabaggers, the idiot wing of the party. Right now the flavor of the month for the teabaggers is Herman Cain, but no one really expects him to get the nomination. And if he doesn't, who will the teabaggers back? Currently that vote is being split by Cain, Perry, Bachmann, Gingrich, Santorum, and Paul, but in the next few months they'll have to settle on someone.

Perry's "birther" statement was just the opening volley in the war for the teabagger vote. He knows they won't vote for mainstream ideas or candidates, so he's going back out to the lunatic fringe (where he's pretty comfortable anyway). He tried to mitigate the idea by calling it a distraction (just in case he makes it to the general election), but there is no doubt he was aiming his remarks at the teabaggers. Will it work? Maybe, he does have $17 million to try and rehabilitate his candidacy. We'll just have to wait and see.

Arizona "Birther" Sheriff Will Misuse Taxpayer Money

The infamous sheriff of Maricopa County (Arizona), Joe Arpaio, has never cared much for laws, rules, or saving taxpayer money. He is being investigated by the U.S. Justice Department for using his department to investigate and harass his political opponents, and for systematically violating the rights of Hispanics. And Maricopa County has lost millions of dollars in lawsuits stemming from the sheriff's racist and illegal actions.

Now this legal darling of the teabaggers seems to have completely gone around the bend. He has decided to waste taxpayer money on an issue that not only has been settled for a while now, but is really outside of the authority of his office. He is going to investigate the issue of President Obama's birth certificate -- to see if it is forged. He doesn't seem to care that the state of Hawaii has vouched for the validity of the birth certificate, and the Constitution (through the Full Faith And Credit provision) requires Arizona (and all other states) to accept a birth certificate issued by Hawaii.

The sheriff's office in Maricopa County has a cold case division operated by a volunteer staff "of people with skills and backgrounds that make them qualified to investigate cases". However, that unit has been inactive for several months now due to "budgetary limitations within the Maricopa County Sheriff's office". In spite of the fact that there is no money for this group to investigate real crimes that need to be solved, the crazy sheriff has decided there is enough money for him to send the unit on a political wild goose chase.

Arpaio says, "This investigation does not involve politics." That is an outrageous lie. It involves nothing but politics -- teabagger politics. He said he is investigating because of a complaint filed by the teabagger organization in Surprise, Arizona -- a group that could not be satisfied about the "birther" issue if they each individually received official copies of the birth certificate from Hawaii that were notarized and signed by the governor of that state.

This is clearly a political move and a waste of taxpayer money. It's long past time for the voters in Maricopa to dump this fool.

Birtherism And The Polls

Well, Obama did it. He released the "long-form" copy of his original birth certificate. He didn't necessarily need to do this, because the copy he had already released is considered the official birth certificate by the state of Hawaii (where he was born). I think he just did it to further marginalize the birthers. This takes away their only argument, and if they continue their silly claims now they will simply be fully exposed for what they really are -- racists who can't accept that an African-American was elected fairly and squarely to be president.

Of course, it does bring up the question of just how many of these die-hard racists there really are. Survey USA decided to find out. After the president's birth certificate (pictured above) was released, they conducted a survey of 1,500 American adults (with both cell phones and land-lines). It turns out that 71% of the population has no doubt that the president was born in Hawaii, while 10% believe the birth certificate is a forgery (17% of teabaggers & 18% of Republicans) and 18% still have doubts (40% of teabaggers and 33% of Republicans). Here are the numbers:

* 63% say Obama was definitely born in the United States.

* 19% say Obama was probably born in the United States. 
* 11% say Obama was probably born in another country. 
* 6% say Obama was definitely born in another country.

* 57% say they knew all along that the President was born in the USA.
* 14% say they had doubts, but now are satisfied that the President was born in the USA.
* 18% say they still have doubts about where the President was born (including 40% of Tea Party, 33% of Republicans, 27% of Conservatives.)
* 10% say they are sure the document released 04/27/11 is a forgery (including 17% of Tea Party , 18% of Republicans, 16% of Conservatives).

* Both 27% who have seen the certificate and 27% who have not seen the certificate say the matter is still an open item for debate. 
* 64% of those who have seen the certificate say the matter is now a closed incident. 
* 49% of those who have not seen the certificate say the matter is now a closed incident.

* When all Americans are asked whether Obama will be re-elected in 2012, 33% say he will be re-elected, 49% say he won't be. 
* When just responses from those who have seen the certificate are considered, 41% say he will be re-elected, 44% say he won't be.

* 26% of Americans say they will vote for Obama in 2012 no matter who else is on the ballot.
* 34% of Americans say they will vote against Obama in 2012 no matter who else is on the ballot.
* 35% say they need to know who else is on the ballot.

* 9% of Americans consider themselves to be part of the "Birther" movement.
* 34% of Americans are not following news stories about the birth certificate.

As I expected, the birthers (about 28% of the population -- 57% of teabaggers and 51% of Republicans) are not about to give up this silly fight. Meanwhile, the latest Rasmussen Report survey reinforces the view that the birther issue is still strong among Republicans. This new survey (conducted on April 26th of 1,000 GOP primary voters) shows that the king of the birthers, Donald Trump, is still in first place among possible Republican presidential candidates. Here are the results of that poll:

Donald Trump...............19%
Mitt Romney...............17%
Mike Huckabee...............15%
Sarah Palin...............9%
Newt Gingrich...............9%
Ron Paul...............8%
Tim Pawlenty...............5%
Mitch Daniels...............3%
Some other candidate...............5%
Undecided...............11%

This is quite different from this same survey when it was taken in January 2011. Back then it showed:

Mitt Romney...............24%
Sarah Palin...............19%
Mike Huckabee...............17%
Newt Gingrich...............11%

Of course it is still very early and no candidate has yet been able to separate himself/herself from the pack. But it is interesting that Trump's newfound popularity seems to have come mainly at the expense of Mitt Romney and Sarah Palin. Both have dropped precipitously in this poll since January.

But while Trump's birtherism has played well among the Republicans (especially the teabaggers), it has not done his TV show any good at all. Some have said he is just playing at being a candidate so boost the viewership of his TV show (The Apprentice). If that is true, then it has been an abysmal failure. He has lost at least 2 million viewers in the last couple of weeks (when he became very public with his birther views). How can that be? Well, it turns out that the TV show was more popular among liberals than conservatives. And his birther view (racism) is not selling well to the TV show demographic.

I doubt it will happen, but I would love to see the Republicans nominate Donald Trump or Sarah Palin (or even Michele Bachmann). It would not only make for a fun campaign, but would be the best present Democrats could get.

CNN Settles The "Birther" Questions

It is a sad fact in this country that a majority of Republicans (and far too many of the general public) believe that President Obama was either not born in the United States or that there is some doubt that he was born here. This is because of conspiracy theorists called "birthers" (who just are unable to accept that an African-American was elected president by the people of the U.S.).

The folks at CNN have decided to settle this question once and for all. They sent a reporter to Hawaii to find the truth, and discover if there is even a grain of truth to the questions posed by the "birthers". Here is what they found:

1. Birthers say the president refuses to release his "official" long form birth certificate and that the certificate (shown above) which he has released is not official.

This is nonsense. The Certificate of Live Birth pictured above is not only the official birth certificate, but it is the ONLY birth certificate given out by the state government. Anyone born in Hawaii who asked for an official copy of his/her birth certificate would receive a form that looked exactly like the one the president has already released. And the form says right at the bottom of it that the form will serve as "evidence of the fact of birth in any court proceeding". How much more official can a form get?

2. Birthers say the president won't release his long form certificate because it says he is a muslim on it.

More nonsense. While the state used to have a longer form which contained information like the hospital the person was born in and the father's occupation, state officials say the form never contained any information about the baby's or the parents' religion. CNN viewed some of the longer (discontinued) forms and verified that there was no information about religion on it.

3. Birthers claim that the birth notice in the Hawaii newspaper was placed there by Obama's family so he could receive government services (or for some other nefarious purpose).

Again, not true. Both the newspaper and the Department of Health Services say there was no way for parents (or other relatives) to place birth announcements in the paper. All of the birth announcements printed in the newspaper came directly from the Department of Health Services (and they had no interest in placing a false announcement).

4. Birthers, especially Donald Trump (the most famous birther), say it is strange that no one remembers the young Obama in Hawaii.

This is not strange because it is simply not true. A lady named Monika Waidelich had her son at the same time and in the same hospital. She remembers seeing the president next to her son in the nursery because, "In those days, there were hardly any other black babies." A professor at the University of Hawaii, Alice Dewey, was faculty advisor to Obama's mother and knew the president as a child. She remembers discussing with his mother the difference between giving birth in Indonesia (where Obama's sister, Maya, was born) and Hawaii (where Barack Obama was born). Even the current governor of Hawaii, Neil Abercrombie, was a friend of Obama's mother and remembers seeing the child immediately after his birth and helping her celebrate the birth.

The fact is there has never been any real doubt that Barack Obama was born in the United States -- specifically in Hawaii. As I said before, this is an invention of some racists in America who are upset that an African-American was elected president. They will grasp at any straw and make up any lie to try and change that fact.

I appreciate the effort of CNN to try and lay this matter to rest, but I seriously doubt it will do any good. The "birther" beliefs were never based on any facts, and no fact will ever change their minds. But then they are Republicans, and to believe in Republican policies one needs to have an ability to ignore inconvenient facts -- both voters and politicians.

Republican Party Inundated With Birthers

The birth certificate above would be all that most employers and agencies would need to establish citizenship, but there is a class of people (probably motivated by their racial views) who don't want to accept it. They are commonly called "birthers", and they have been raising hell ever since President Obama took office. They claim he was not born in the United States and demand that he produce the "long form" of his birth certificate to prove he was born in Hawaii (in spite of the fact that the state of Hawaii has affirmed his birth in that state).

Some expected this ridiculous birtherism would go away after a while, but it hasn't -- it seems to have grown instead. And this year at least 10 states have introduced bills that would require a presidential candidate to produce a birth certificate before being placed on that state's election ballot. It's pretty obvious that these bills are aimed at keeping President Obama from appearing on state ballots, in the hope of keeping him from winning a second term. They must think this will be easier than beating him fairly in an election.

Some right-wing constitutional scholars think these laws can be upheld because it is normally up to each state to determine their own ballot requirements. I think they are wrong, and I believe these laws will be struck down by the courts. In the final analysis, it is the constitution that determines the qualifications for president -- not the individual states.

But it does bring up the question of why these Republican politicians are going along with the birthers in this ridiculous maneuver. Even some national Republican politicians, who don't doubt the president's citizenship are afraid to cross the birthers. For instance, Speaker Boehner said he believed President Obama was born in the United States, but then he was quick to add that it wasn't his place to tell others what they should believe.

But a new Public Policy Polling survey makes it clearer when the politicians in the Republican Party are playing to the birthers. They are afraid of them because there are so many of them in the Republican Party in general. When PPP surveyed Republicans who said they were likely to vote in the Republican primary next year, they found the following:

51% don't think Obama was born in the U.S.
28% believe he was born in the U.S.
21% say they are not sure where he was born

Those are some pretty incredible numbers, and its easy to see why so many Republican politicians are afraid to speak out on this issue. Whether racist or just incredibly stupid, those people make up enough of the Republican Party to cost a politician his/her seat if he/she doesn't play along (at least in the primary).

"Birther" Army Doctor Goes On Trial

The picture above is of Lt. Colonel Terrence Lakin, who has been an Army doctor for the last 18 years.   Last April I wrote a post about how he is throwing away his military career (just two years short of being able to retire on half-pay) because he is a right-winger who has fallen for the "birther" lie that President Obama was not born in the United States.

Col. Lakin decided he could not follow any orders issued by his superiors in the Army because he believed the president (the Commander-in-Chief of the United States Military) was in office illegally.   Somehow he figured this justified his refusal to follow orders -- either that or he was ready to dump his career and go to prison for his fringe right-wing views.   Lakin is one of those people who refuse to face reality, since the president's birth certificate has been released and is available online to anyone who wants to see it.

Lakin was charged with three offenses by the United States Army -- refusing to meet with a superior when ordered to do so, refusing to report for duty at Fort Campbell (Kentucky), and refusing to board a flight as ordered.   Last September a military judge ruled that the president's birth certificate was irrelevant to the charges against Lakin and could not be used as a defense against those charges.

Yesterday Lakin's military trial got underway.   Since he could not use the "birther" defense (which he told the court he still believes), he pled guilty to two of the charges -- refusing to report for duty at Fort Campbell and refusing to meet with a superior officer.   But he pled innocent to the charge of refusing to board a flight when ordered.  

Maybe he thought they would drop that charge if he pled to the other two, or maybe he still has his martyr complex and is willing to increase his possible sentence to please his "birther" brethren (thirty of which showed up for the trial carrying signs).   The charge was not dropped and his trial on that charge is proceeding.

Lakin faces about 18 months in prison for the two guilty pleas and dismissal from the Army -- likely a dishonorable discharge.   If found guilty on the third charge, and that is very likely, his sentence could be bumped up to three years.

It's still incredible to me that this man would throw away an 18 year career and his retirement, and go to prison for such a stupid reason.   It makes me wonder if he's a racist who just can't stand the thought of an African-American president.   But whatever his ulterior motive, the U.S. Army will be better off without him.

Texas "Birther" Threatens To Assassinate Obama

Those of us who live in Amarillo (in the Texas Panhandle) sometimes think we are so far from everywhere else that few people pay us much attention.   But one Amarillo resident has found out that we're not so far from the rest of the world that the United States Secret Service won't pay a visit to insure the safety of the president of the United States.

William Mattison, a 70 year-old Amarillo resident, recently wrote an angry e-mail to U.S. Rep. Mac Thornberry (R-Clarendon).   The e-mail expressed Mattison's anger that President Obama had not released his "long-form Hawaiian birth certificate" (the short form, verified by the State of Hawaii, is shown above).   But Mattison wasn't content with expressing his anger, which is his constitutional right.  

He went a step further and in the last line of the e-mail he threatened to assassinate President Obama.   He said he was "considering assassinating" the president, and doing so would fulfill the oath he took when he entered the Air Force in 1958.

Thornberry's office reported the threat to the Secret Service.   Alison Lynn, Thornberry's communications director, said,   "Our office takes threats very seriously.   It's mandatory to report to the appropriate authorities."

The Secret Service paid Mattison a visit last Monday.   So far, no charges have been filed and the case remains open.   Mattison told the Amarillo Globe News,   "(The Secret Service) told me I had committed a crime, and I told them I did it on purpose.   I'm tired of having a president that refuses to make public his birth certificate."   Mattison said he expects to be arrested and wants to defend himself in court (although he would seek legal counsel to help).

It sounds like Mattison wants to turn a federal courtroom into a political circus to further his own fringe right-wing political views.   He is going to be sorely disappointed when a federal judge refuses to allow him to do that.   Politics, even fringe right-wing politics, is not a justification or legal defense against a charge of threatening to assassinate the president.

I know there will probably be some who think charges should not be entered against Mattison because of his age.   I am not one of those.   I think he should be charged, convicted and sent to a federal prison for five years.   He knew what he was doing was against the law and intentionally did it anyway.   If he's not charged this time, he might actually try to harm the president to get his show trial.

This "birther" nonsense has gone too far.   The president has already gone further than any previous president by authorizing the release of the short-form birth certificate, and the state of Hawaii has verified its authenticity.   There is no doubt to any reasonable person that President Obama was born in the United States.   Frankly, the whole mess is starting to stink of racism to me.

Soldier Chooses "Birther" Politics Over Career

This is kind of a sad story. It's the story of a man who is throwing his career away because he has bought into the lies of the teabaggers' "birther" politics. Lt. Colonel Terry Lakin is a doctor in the United States Army, and evidently a competent doctor, because he has served in that capacity for the Army for 18 years. He only had two years to go before he could retire with some pretty nice benefits.

But Lakin is in the process of throwing his career and retirement benefits down the drain. He is doing this because he has accepted the specious arguments of teabaggers that President Obama is not a natural born citizen of the United States. None of the repeated assurances by the state of Hawaii that Obama was born there has convinced Lakin. It's like he's made up his mind and is not about to be confused by any inconvenient facts. Either that, or he's a racist and cannot accept that America actually has a duly elected African-American president.

Lakin (pictured) said he first became aware of Obama's "questionable" natural birth in October of 2008. He claimed that at that time he was considering volunteering for duty in Iraq, but after Obama's election that November he stopped those efforts to volunteer.

He says he talked many times with friends and family seeking their advice. Then around the end of March 2009, he submitted an Article 138 against President Obama with his company commander, claiming Obama was an illegitimate president and commander-in-chief and it would be illegal for him (Lakin) to follow any orders from the president. He received a reply from the Pentagon saying his Article 138 was out of order because the president was not Lakin's commanding officer.

But Lakin was not about to accept the decision of his superiors at the Pentagon. He then contacted the offices of Senators Alexander and Corker, and Congressman Wamp. When that did no good as far as he was concerned, he filed another Article 138 in November of 2009 -- this time against General Casey, Army Chief of Staff. The Pentagon gave him the same answer again -- General Casey was not his commanding officer.

Again, the Pentagon decision was not good enough for the soldier-doctor. He has now informed his commanding officers that he will refuse a posting to serve in Afghanistan. He says, "I am today compelled to make the distasteful choice to invite my own court martial, in pursuit of the truth about the president's eligibility under the Constitute to hold office."

The Army has tried to deal with Lakin in a civilized way, but he seems determined to become a martyr for the "birther" cause. I don't know if he really believes this silly idea, or if it's just a cover for his racism, but he's willing to throw his career and retirement away for it. I hope he doesn't think this will make him some kind of hero, because most Americans will just consider him to be a fool.

He has left the Army no choice. He must now be court-martialed, punished and probably dishonorably discharged. The Army cannot let its soldiers pick and choose which president they will obey and which they won't obey. That would invite anarchy within the ranks.

I guess the Ft. Leavenworth Military Prison will be getting a new doctor -- and inmate.

Radical Right Turns On Fox News

Most people in the reality-based world tend to lump all right-wingers into the same category and view them as one monolithic movement. But that is not really true, especially among the real nuts on the far right-wing fringe. Some of these people are even attacking their own now.

Anyone who really understands the meaning of "fair and balanced" understands that it is a joke to attach this term to Fox News. They are nothing more than a propaganda arm for the Republican Party and right-wing causes such as the teabaggers. In support of the right-wing, the Fox News Network doesn't hesitate to stretch the truth or even tell outright lies. But evidently that not good enough for some on the radical right.

Take the "birther" folks for instance. These nuts are convinced that President Obama was born in Africa and is therefore not eligible to be president. And they are not about to be deterred by trivial things like facts. The president's Hawaiian birth certificate and official statements from the state government of Hawaii (not to mention birth announcements in Hawaii newspaper records) are nothing to these nuts.

These charges are so outrageous that even Fox News cannot bring themselves to actively push this garbage alongside their other fairy tales. And that has the "birthers" angry. They are now openly attacking Fox News and accusing them of participating in this huge "liberal" cover-up.

Read the following quotes from Steve Cooper from the ultra-right-wing-fundamentalist blog called ATLAH Times. He's convinced that most of the right-wing commentators are conspiring with liberals to kill the birther story.

"The key to this cover-up is Fox News's compliance in keeping this story, the lawyers, the plaintiffs and the lawsuits out of the news so the American people are not wise to the details. People are very busy with their lives and they have no time to do research, so if the news keeps a tight lid on this it will go nowhere."

"Glen Beck and Bill O'Reilly's assistance in this cover up has been huge. Obama owes them BIG TIME. Bill O'Reilly mentioned that his crack staff investigated this matter and they shut the door on it, but they NEVER publicly reported the evidence that he supposedly found. They are depending on their loyal audience to just take their word for it, but many people are waking up to the fact that they might be part of the cover up as well."

"The Fox News fans are loyal and they think that their heroes would never lie to them about any issue. Well, they are wrong, because they are lying about this issue."

"Rush Limbaugh and Mark Levin want to stay in the good graces of Fox news, so they avoid the topic all together."