It is not my job as a journalist or yours as a citizen to take public officials on trust. They are not to be trusted, whoever they are. It is our job to demand all the evidence we want or need. I know the electronic record is legit. I have no doubt that Obama has every constitutional right to be president. I think the Birthers are nuts. But there is no reason on earth that the original cannot be retrieved and shown....Sarah Palin, in response to a question during an interview, said it was alright for people like Sullivan to ask such questions, even though she was not and had not questioned Obama's citizenship herself.
Obama promised total transparency. Where is it?
Strange thing, this internet. Sullivan's other and continuing obsession is whether Trig Palin really is Sarah's son. Yet Palin is defending Andrew Sullivan's right to ask conspiracy questions. Talk about no degrees of separation.
Yes, Obama supporters have maneuvered the political sphere to the point that some questions cannot even be asked, not even by Andrew Sullivan. It is what it is, so focus on what we can deal with.
For the record, again, I want to focus on the mountain of paper Obama wants Harry Reid and Nancy Pelosi to push through the Congress which will wreak havoc on our economy, narrow our liberties, and ruin our health care system. Better get through these next few weeks, or we'll have to deal with the consequences for our lifetimes.
Focusing on the single piece of paper in storage in Hawaii, which the State of Hawaii already has certified exists and shows Obama was born in Hawaii, makes it more likely that Obama's mountain of paper will land on our heads.
I'd say this controversy is just what the doctor ordered for Democrats.
Update: See, Andrew Sullivan appreciates that Sarah came to his defense:
But I am grateful that Palin herself has now said that the attempt to get independent factual evidence of factual claims made by politicians as a central part of their campaign appeal and platform is legitimate. Of course it's legitimate. It's called journalism and accountability.Somehow I don't think we've heard the end of the Trig business from Andrew, although I doubt it will generate as long a thread at Memeorandum.
But as we have discovered, those two elements are no longer very common among journalists and politicians. They are all infotainers now.
Added: Wow, that didn't take long. The electrons had barely ceased doing what ever electrons do on my update, when Andrew Sullivan proclaimed:
Palin Puts The Trig Question Back On The TableI think I know where Sullivan is going on this. A prisoner exchange: Trig's birth certificate for Obama's.
--------------------------------------------
Related Posts:
Never Missing An Excuse To Attack Trig Palin
Wonkette Goes After Trig Palin Again
Psst...Don't Tell Andrew Sullivan Our Secret
Not Related Post (but I put a lot of time into it and no one wants to link):
Thomson Reuters Public Option Poll Details Obtained - Exclusively Here
Follow me on Twitter and Facebook
Obama's alleged Hawaiian birth certificate = "the debate is over," "settled science," etc.
ReplyDeletehttp://web.archive.org/web/20040627142700/eastandard.net/headlines/news26060403.htm
Well, without of doubt, stopping Obamacare and Cap n Tax and Immigration Reform (really amnesty combined wtih increased legal immigration. Smart with high unemployment, huh?), are the most important things to work and stop.
ReplyDeleteBut I will not let Chrissy Mathews nor Keith Olbermann intimidate me from being a little skeptical about Dear Leader's natural birth citizenship.
Why? Because I'm racist? Hardly, it's because we've never had a president who came from foreign stock (father's half), was a muslim as a child, open (and endlessly) brags about his "non-American-ness", etc. I'm about 80% sure BHO was born in Hawaii. But that still leaves a significant 20%.
Why the lack of transparency, Barry? Most if not all major candidates and presidents make public their birth certificate, school records and any military records. But Barry is not challenged on these questions.
He's treated with kid gloves. Because he's (half) black. I'm so impressed by his ethnicity.....
Sure, healthcare and cap and tax, if passed, will change our lives and the nature of our economy forever.
ReplyDeleteBut, I've seen reports he has spent $2 million to mount legal challenges against those who are trying to compel him to produce his "long form" birth certificate. If those estimates are true, aren't you curious why so much money has been spent to conceal such a benign document?
Why is there such a derisive level of intellectual disinterest on the part of certain Conservative bloggers regarding Obama's eligibility to be President?
ReplyDeleteThey will post the most obscure crap about the man, but then act ashamed of other Conservatives who dare to demand that Obama produce personal documentation and works of writing that will tell us all who this enigma really is.
We can walk (insist these documents be released) and chew gum (fight bad legislation) at the same time. Did opponents of the Vietnam War urge their followers to cease calling for release of the Watergate tapes because it would distract from their higher calling? Did opponents of George W. Bush's policy agenda in 2000 urge them to back off the call for release of his Selective Service records because it was not in line with some bigger picture? Of course not.
ReplyDeleteGovernor Palin was right: Release the documents (Certificate of Live Birth, Indonesia citizen status, college and law school applications). What exactly is this man hiding, with his multi-million dollar litigation in courts all over this nation? It's a very reasonable question.
The burden is not on us (as I argue in my article below) to prove anything. The burden is on Obama to live up to his promises of transparency and release these documents, which have both Constitutional and political relevance, whatever they may reveal:
http://michaeljohnsonfreedomandprosperity.blogspot.com/2009/09/release-birth-documents.html
But while I disagree with your position on this one issue, let me add this: You have an exceptional blog with spot-on analysis. Thanks for all you do. It's a valued contribution.
Please note that the BC is a distraction from the fact that Obama is not a natural born citizen owing to the fact that his father was a resident alien and not a U.S. citizen. If the BC were to be produced (and this is why lackey Sullivan is being asked to bring it up), and it shows that Obama was born in Hawaii, they will claim the debate is over when in actuality the only relevant issue in the BC is over who and from what country was Obama's father.
ReplyDeleteRational people have said it often: Sarah Palin is a freakin idiot.
ReplyDelete(Also, she has no policy experience, having only 2 years of experience, so how do you expect her to actually be able to get conservative policies enacted?)
She's just trying to lose the election for the GOP. Well, in 2012, let's say No More Socialism. Stop Sarah before she can damage this country with a general election loss.
mr jacobson: you are being a pantywaist -- as is allahpundit, ed morrissey, etc, -- about this issue. What on earth is the problem with asking to see the President's birth certificate -- even if he hadn't already invested at least a $million to shut down legal actions that would require him to supply it? Have you never shown your birth certificate? Has no one in your family been required to show one? Please, let's stop with the "affirmative action" on this issue and treat the President the same way we would treat any white guy.
ReplyDeleteI am still wondering why the Constitution is such a problem for so called conservative law professors. What do you have against our founding fathers and their intent for the president to have absolutely no allegiance to any foreign government? It was put in place for our national security & a safe gaurd for our states & nation's sovereignty.
ReplyDeleteObama a citizen, yes, Obama a natural born citizen, one born on American soil to parents not owing allegiance to any foreign sovereignty, NO! This is the record of the 39th Congress and was the definition of NBC when the 14th Amendment was adopted. It has NEVER been changed!
I suspect you already knew this but incase here is a link for a refresher course that the current Congress knows full well Obama is not natural born, therefore was not eligible. They have ignored it for their own political expedience which the founders also warned us about in length.
http://constitutionallyspeaking.wordpress.com/a-congressional-natural-born-citizen-parts-i-ii-iii/
Professor Jacobson, do you have an answer for us? That's what I thought...you can not refute what is recorded, so all you can do is put true conservatives who really know what the founders built this great nation on and are not afraid to stand up and fight for it!
FYI..we can also walk and chew gum at the same time, thus we are working doubly hard as you because as long as the highest office in the land is able to be usurpered, so will our liberties continue to be trampled on.
You probably won't publish this, but atleast I have it off my chest. I'm tired of being called names for standing next to our founders in trying to save my country and protect those who serve to protect us by fighting so they come back to the free nation they left.
I'd rather see his LSAT scores, admission docs, and grades from Columbia and Harvard.
ReplyDelete