The Racist Roots of "Birtherism"

[chrisrobin]

THURSDAY'S POP QUIZ:

Please post the name(s) of any U.S. President(s) whose birth records have been challenged. Don't forget to cite your source.

Bonus question: Please post the name(s) of any of the other U.S. Presidents whose college grades have been an issue.* Don't forget to cite your source.

*Harry S. Truman, successor to Franklin D. Roosevelt, did not earn a college degree. Nobody seemed to mind.

 

[Joshua_me]

^ Well, the article doesn't even open for me--something wrong with the link.

I just checked the link, it's working just fine for me.

It's a powerful video.

I'll find another source after I get home from work. Although, if you Google "Rachel Maddow Goldie Taylor The Grio" it should be easy to find.

 

[Joshua_me]

Yes, it's all about the President.

All Obama had to do was release his birth certificate about 2-1/2 years ago. This is all his mess -- somehow he saw political gain from not giving out the information.

He released the acceptable short form, and you bloody well know it, Jack.

Don't you think every Republican researched this as much as possible before the election ?

It comes down to, "Show us your papers, black man".

 

[White Eagle]

He released the acceptable short form, and you bloody well know it, Jack.

Don't you think every Republican researched this as much as possible before the election ?

It comes down to, "Show us your papers, black man".

Exactly! There is no reason to bring another BC than the one he gave first.
The lady in the video is exactly right. Trump is a racist and anyone who believes him is also a racist.
Get over it!
Not you Joshua, Jack and nineofclubs.

 

[CowboyBob]

No, it's not about race. It's nothing about race. It never has been anything about race.

Why do all you liberals play the race card?

It's about him...Barack HUSSEIN Obama. It's about his father being a Marxist and "packed up" as a pickaninny another country. (OMFG)

It's about him not showing his birth certificate. Why did he wait so long to show it? Why doesn't he show his school records? Why doesn't that colored....oops I mean why doesn't that liberal man show more transparency? Where's his school records now? What's he hiding?

Too bad he doesn't know his place. That uppity...... I mean..... that liberal doesn't know his place. Besides, I'm an atheist. That proves I'm not racist.....



OMFG! I can't believe the arrogance and racism on display in this forum. It's fucking unreal.

 

[T-Rexx]

Yes, it's all about the President.

All Obama had to do was release his birth certificate about 2-1/2 years ago. This is all his mess -- somehow he saw political gain from not giving out the information.

He released the birth certificate that Hawaii sends you when you ask for a copy of your birth certificate.

He released the birth certificate that Hawaiians use to get a driver's license or a passport.

He released the birth certificate that is used for every legal purpose demanding proof of birth.

The only people for whom this was not adequate documentation were the birthers.

Because this is not about Obama's birth.

 

[CowboyBob]

Yes, it's all about the President.

All Obama had to do was release his birth certificate about 2-1/2 years ago. This is all his
mess -- somehow he saw political gain from not giving out the information.

Springer, Do you define being humiliated as a "mess"? Who made the mess? It was the birthers, not the President. Besides as T-Rexx just pointed out, he did release it a long time ago. It was the birthers who made fools of themselves. Let them wallow in their own feces now.

 

[rick262]

To the best of my knowledge, Obama's mother was an American citizen when he was born. To the best of my knowledge, if one parent is an American citizen, the child is automatically an American citizen regardless of the location of the birth (anywhere on earth or in the universe). End of story. Go to the government immigration website to see if I'm correct...that's what I did...but, of course, I have a desire to make statements based on fact and truth...birthers and racists don't have that similar desire...lies/half truths/distortions are the way of those people.

Please flame my post if you desire...I will not be checking it again because I already have enough high blood pressure problems and judgemental tendencies without being drawn into arguments with people who are so incredibly stupid that they deserve to have their voting rights revoked. Dear God, when are we going to quit spending enormous amounts of energy and resources on matters that mean absolutely nothing (Obama's birth, Obama's lack of an Easter proclamation, Obama's use of tele-prompters, and whatever else the RIGHT WING/CHRISTIAN NUTCASES come up with on any given day). No, the man is not perfect...I voted for him and MAY NOT do so in the future...not sure yet. He has been an enormous disappointment in many areas. I will still take him over McCain at this point.

By the way: Speaker Boner...where are the jobs? By the way: How did that $38 billion dollars that the Republicans hacked from the budget help solve our debt crisis? (.0000000000000000000000000000000001% of deficit...an awful lot of effort and lies/distortions to accomplish absolutely NOTHING) Get our troops out of all foreign countries, end these idiot wars that are the true cause of our monetary problems, and stop all foreign aid (read influence money) to ALL countries.

Goodbye thread....

 

[rareboy]

Hey Springer.

What a crock of shit as usual.



A valid and acceptable birth certificate was released previously.

It is only obsessive and delusional conspiracy theorists and racists who had to have more.

And now even that isn't enough.

Fucking pitiful.

 

[chrisrobin]

"When I was a child, I spake as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child: but when I became a man,
I put away childish things." - 1 Corinthians 13.

"Lord, what fools these mortals be!" - William Shakespeare, "A Midsummer Night's Dream", Act 3 scene 2

"We do not have time for this kind of silliness." - President Obama

 

[Zu-Mendel]

Let's also not forget that the only reason he was capable of getting a copy of his 'long-form' birth certificate is because of the favors granted to him by being the POTUS.

Any Joe Blow Six-pack american wouldn't have been able to get theirs. When they send you a certificate of live birth, and you ask for the 'long form' certificate, your answer will be "lol no."

 

[thevofl]

"We do not have time for this kind of silliness." - President Obama

And then he has time to go on Oprah to make fun of the situation.

Irony in action.

 

[CowboyBob]

And then he has time to go on Oprah to make fun of the situation.

Irony in action.

Yup. It just goes to show absolutely everything the man does, some people will think is wrong. Everything.

Makes their argument worthless.

 

[Dolmance]

You have no idea, I cannot emphasise enough how fucking lunatic this whole birther bullshit seems from the outside. It is making the U.S. a laughing stock.

 

[Kulindahr]

I think that the concern at the beginning was understandable. We had the right to be concerned with the possibility that Obama was not born in the US...but once Hawaii said he was, it should have ended. I think that a vast majority (not all) of those that still consider this an issue may be consider the "racial" aspect of it.

He released the acceptable short form, and you bloody well know it, Jack.

Don't you think every Republican researched this as much as possible before the election ?

It comes down to, "Show us your papers, black man".

That's the force of the video.

Anyone ever seen the movie "Firefox"? There's a scene, set in the Soviet Union, that this whole birther business reminds me of. The hero is walking through a transportation hub, and gets stopped by a KGB agent. "Your papers, please." The papers are produced, and examined. Everything's there as it should be. But... "Your papers are not in order."

The power of the claim that the papers are insufficient does not rest on them actually being in order; they could be pristine and beyond reproach and still get the challenge. No, the power rests on the assertion that the questioner is superior to the questioned, the implication that the one questioned ought to know his place. The claim about the papers is made solely to assert power and keep the person in his place.

Over and again, when I hear about the birther issue, that comes back to mind: the papers are in order, but the claim is made in spite of that. The Certificate of Live Birth was sufficient, but it was questioned; the State of Hawaii affirmed that it was correct and sufficient, and yet... your papers are not in order.

It doesn't matter that papers have now been shown that are "more in order" than before, because it isn't about the papers. Obama could produce the doctor who delivered him and the nurse who wrapped him, with their sworn testimony, and it would still be... your papers are not in order.

 

[chance1]

anyone ever see "Manchurian Candidate"?

 

[thevofl]

anyone ever see "Manchurian Candidate"?

If this was Facebook, I would have clicked "Like"

 

[rareboy]

You have no idea, I cannot emphasise enough how fucking lunatic this whole birther bullshit seems from the outside. It is making the U.S. a laughing stock.

This is what we found while abroad this time as well.

It is making the US look silly and shallow and pre-occupied by nonsensical and frankly racist obsessions while the rest of the world is trying to get their economies wrecked by Wall Street and years of unregulated excesses back in order.

 

[chrisrobin]

anyone ever see "Manchurian Candidate"?

The original (and only) one. Have it on DVD. The first time I saw it, I regarded it as political satire.
Now, it looks like a documentary.
Would you like to pass the time playing a little solitaire?

 

[thevofl]

Yup. It just goes to show absolutely everything the man does, some people will think is wrong. Everything.

Funny. Didn't Sean Hannity or Rush Limbaugh say the same thing four years ago about the critics of Bush?

Makes their argument worthless.

Who is "their"? If you are lumping me in with the Birther movement, you would be wrong.