GOP Sen. Shelby Questions Obama's Citizenship
Oh, brother. The conspiracy-mongering that Barack Obama is secretly a Kenyan citizen who has hidden his real birth certificate has now found its way into the utterances of a United States Senator: Richard Shelby, Republican of Alabama.
"Well his father was Kenyan and they said he was born in Hawaii, but I haven't seen any birth certificate," Shelby said on Saturday, in response to a constituent's question at a public event. "You have to be born in America to be president."
Click here for FactCheck.org's debunking of this whole business.
Late Update: Shelby's spokesman has responded to the story, telling Ben Smith that it's a "distortion." The spokesman says Shelby mentioned the birth certificate as a "throwaway line" in explaining the qualifications for office, and that Shelby "doesn't have any doubt" of Obama's eligibility.
Someone should ask the senator if he's been to the moon, and if not; what is his opinion on whether it's made of green cheese.
February 22, 2009 1:26 PM | Reply | Permalink
Reminds me of a baseball player for the Red Sox...whose name I'm blanking on. . . who, when asked whether he believed that dinosaurs were ever real said "I dunno. I've never seen a dinosaur footprint so I don't know."
Shelby is demonstrating a similarly sophisticated level of reasoning.
February 22, 2009 1:46 PM | Reply | Permalink
Actually, I misrepresented that. The player in question was Carl Everett, and here are his views on dinosaurs:
February 22, 2009 1:49 PM | Reply | Permalink
Hence the nickname: Jurassic Carl
From Wiki:
He also derided fossils of dinosaur bones as man-made fakes. [1] In reference to these comments, Boston Globe columnist Dan Shaughnessy dubbed Everett "Jurassic Carl." ........In Seattle, he was known as C-Rex, a name given him by writers for the Mariners blog U.S.S. Mariner [2].
Everett, again in an interview with Shaughnessy, questioned the validity of the Apollo Moon Landing.
February 22, 2009 2:44 PM | Reply | Permalink
Baseball columnists demonstrate more incredulity than political columnists, at times, don't they?
February 22, 2009 3:25 PM | Reply | Permalink
Bob Somerby has famously said that sportswriters are better at their jobs than political reporters because the sports guys actually care about the subject that they cover.
February 22, 2009 11:15 PM | Reply | Permalink
And sports reporters have readers who are insanely insistent on the accuracy of the stats being reported.
March 14, 2009 12:35 PM | Reply | Permalink
Yep. Someone actually saw Adam and Eve. But only in the Bible, a text that was written by many men over many years.
So, Carl Whatsisnuts, I guess I'm left with dinosaur bones that have been tested and proved by science to be over 227 million years old. And you're left with the Bible. And you tell me the bones are fake.
February 22, 2009 4:11 PM | Reply | Permalink
Please....everyone knows that Satan planted the dinosaur bones to test people's faith.
February 22, 2009 6:03 PM | Reply | Permalink
Seriously? Maybe he planted Cheney just to send our country to hell!
February 22, 2009 6:18 PM | Reply | Permalink
I said this on the roundup thread, but I'm repeating it, anyway: just where does Shelby think Hawaii is, if not in "America"?
What a colossal joke.
Except it's not all that humorous, given that it's going to fuel all the tinfoilers out there, and possibly create a safety risk for Obama.
I hope the GOP pays a huge price for this insanity. If they don't immediately and loudly reject Shelby's comments, we'll know exactly what assholes they really are.
February 22, 2009 1:33 PM | Reply | Permalink
Don't hold your breath. Did you hear them asking for Alan Keyes' head when he essentially called for Obama to be taken out?
PS.. love the dinosaur quote. I have to wonder if the reporter asked him who, exactly saw Adam and Eve?
Also, FYI, the people who are saying that Obama is not a citizen are saying
1. He was born in Kenya
2. He was born in Indonesia
3. That his Hawaiian birth certificate is actually his sister's, fixed up with the help of some "White-out," despite the fact that the State of Hawaii vouches for the veracity of his BC!
February 22, 2009 2:17 PM | Reply | Permalink
As a matter of fact, I personally met the registered nurse who assisted in the delivery of Barack Obama. It is so typical of small thinkers from the South who simply cannot believe that a person with an ounce of black blood could be elected as our President. This guys statement has both racist and political overtones. I am unsure of which is more prominent in Shelby's thinking but my guess, based on Shelby's southern location, it has a BIG helping of racism and a bit of ignorance to finish up. Poor, poor thing. To be caught in that hate mill like he is even after all the years of integration. Amazing!!!!!
February 22, 2009 5:39 PM | Reply | Permalink
He should be thrown out of the Senate for this intolerable behavior. This is blatant racism. fr
February 22, 2009 1:43 PM | Reply | Permalink
You're right, of course, but he'll just say he just stated a fact. He hasn't seen the certificate (just as we haven't seen his certificate). It won't matter -- if he sees the certificate, people will immediately claim it's a forgery, and then he'll just say that some believe it's a forgery.
In Eastern Europe/ex-USSR, I get this nuttiness all the time. People don't believe that U.S. elections are real, for example. "They" put Obama in because of this and because of that. "They" do a lot of things, you see, including faking Obama's birth. I've decided I will start agreeing with these people while also noting my belief that WWII didn't happen. "They" created the whole WWII story just to fill in the years 1939-1945, which in reality never existed. In reality, we went straight from 1938 to 1946 and "they" want to hide that.
February 23, 2009 2:33 AM | Reply | Permalink
Alan Keyes keyed the Krackpots again
That this has made it to the GOP Senate Caucus tells you everything you need to know about the political health of the Grand OLD White Peoples' Party
That and Earl K Jindal who will be delivering the Republican response on Tuesday
February 22, 2009 1:48 PM | Reply | Permalink
That's National Capitalist White People's Party, to you, boy!
February 22, 2009 2:57 PM | Reply | Permalink
Keep throwing that red meat to your lunatic fringe base in hopes somebody takes action into their own hands.
February 22, 2009 1:52 PM | Reply | Permalink
I can't remember where Alabama showed up in the TPM list of corrupt states, but the Siegelman hit job is just one of the dirty secrets in Shelby and the AL GOP's closet. Here's a Harper's expose on some of Shelby's dirt. I think it's time for the 'new' Feds to poke around in that little piggy's poke.
February 22, 2009 1:55 PM | Reply | Permalink
Great Article! Despite the fact that Shelby is crooked as jigsaw, it appears that the Alabama electorate and media just doesn't care. They'll keep him in office as long as he keeps bringing home the bacon for their state.
From the article:
A really good read.
February 22, 2009 2:55 PM | Reply | Permalink
Since when was the Obama campaign required to run his birth certificate past Sen. Shelby for his blessing? Even the McCain campaign knew that citizenship dog wouldn't hunt.
Current GOP strategy:
Throw as much chaff in the direction of Fox News and Rush Limbaugh so they can catapult the propaganda and obstruct, obstruct, obstruct.
Aren't there some GOOPers drawing up articles of impeachment on Obama already?
February 22, 2009 1:59 PM | Reply | Permalink
Urban legends are hard to die regardless of the truth the legend is a fabrication.
February 22, 2009 2:08 PM | Reply | Permalink
And what has Senator Shelby seen that convinces him that Jesus was the son of God?
February 22, 2009 2:01 PM | Reply | Permalink
That's easy. No evidence; it's all faith -- that wonderful thing that allows you to spout anything you want and claim superiority over everyone else.
February 22, 2009 2:20 PM | Reply | Permalink
It matters just what it is that you have faith in. Not just "faith".
Don't confuse Christianity with anything close to what Jesus was attempting to acomplish....which was survival in the face of Roman commercialization.
February 23, 2009 7:14 AM | Reply | Permalink
ABC News' Kirit Radia Reports: As President Obama worked the rope-line at the State Department Thursday, a State Department staffer named Charles Silver, knowing the President once lived in Indonesia, shouted out, "good afternoon" in the local language.
Obama responded back in what Silver later told ABC News was "very good" Bahasa Indonesian. The two then chatted briefly about the neighborhood Obama once lived in.
From this point on, every time that Obama has any kind of verbal interaction with Shelby, he should speak in Indonesian. As long as Shelby isn't going to listen anyway, why keep wasting time trying to say things he'll understand. I wonder what "You're an ignorant freakin' bozo" sounds like in Indonesian?
February 22, 2009 2:02 PM | Reply | Permalink
Oh, that's rather delicious. I do wish he would.
But, you know, now that I'm thinking about it --- I've never seen Sen. Shelby's birth certificate. I mean, they *say* he was born in Alabama, but even Wikipedia says "Shelby claims to be born in Birmingham, Alabama to Alice L. Skinner and Ozie Houston Shelby, although this has never been fully confirmed."
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Shelby#cite_note-1
February 22, 2009 3:30 PM | Reply | Permalink
AND someone should ask Sen. Shelby if he ever saw George W. Bush's birth certificate. (Not to mention that the birth certificate of the candidate he supported for President would actual show that he was born in a foreign country - Panama.)
February 22, 2009 3:33 PM | Reply | Permalink
Post-racial, my ass. This good ol' fashion, Alabama-flavored, dog-whistle politics. They lost on the issues and they can't win on them in the future, so the extremists are trying to bully Obama into a fight, which they don't have to win. I will guarantee that at some point, we will see Repugs and Fux News whackos making their birth certificates publicly available for forensic analysis, and asking why the President won't do the same. What is sad is that a sitting senator would stoop this low.
February 22, 2009 2:05 PM | Reply | Permalink
Despiration---veiled KKK psycho babble and it will go nowhere because it does not have legs....but allows the religion of the Republican Right to create a new mythology----
Mythology in the Right is as deep and held as strong as any Greek or Roman or Chinese or Indian mythology and superstition.
Even with facts, indisputable like gravity....they will refuse for once it is acknowledged it unravels their entire mythical system.
February 22, 2009 2:35 PM | Reply | Permalink
Personally, not too far underneath the surface of my mind, I would welcome them working themselves up into a frenzy and seceding again. I'm not talking about the south in general here, just the political and business leadership that never loosened it's grip on the region since the American Revolution or gave up on maintaining themselves at the expense of the liberty, feedom and prosperity of all others. I think most southerners, or at least a goodly portion of them would join in. I would volunteer to go down there and fight those like Shelby myself. It's clear that they need to be crushed once every century or so. They're long overdue for the "correction" they've so richly deserved for so long down there. And this time, keep the troops down there for good to put down the rise of these asshole crackers once and for all!
February 22, 2009 3:31 PM | Reply | Permalink
Come to think if it, I haven't seen Richard Shelby's birth certificate.
February 22, 2009 2:05 PM | Reply | Permalink
Is Hell a state?
February 22, 2009 2:43 PM | Reply | Permalink
I take it you've never been in Alabama in the summer.
February 22, 2009 2:59 PM | Reply | Permalink
I've been to Louisiana in August. That was as close to hell as I'd like to get.
February 22, 2009 3:03 PM | Reply | Permalink
Actually, Alabama and Louisiana are to the east and west of the fire.
February 22, 2009 3:08 PM | Reply | Permalink
I'll second this.
Sorry, Haley, I know that "Mississippi is hell on earth!" isn't going to pull in the tourists, but truth in advertising, you know?
February 22, 2009 3:28 PM | Reply | Permalink
Well, just six months a year. In March, October and November, its actually quite nice.
February 22, 2009 3:37 PM | Reply | Permalink
I'd throw in April as a nice month.
November, too.
It's just that May through September are so bad that it clouds the memory. . .
February 22, 2009 3:42 PM | Reply | Permalink
Beat me to it.
February 22, 2009 2:59 PM | Reply | Permalink
Shelby had the opportunity to legally and formally object to Obama's election as president when the Joint Session of Congress counts the votes cast by the Electoral College. He chose not to, therefore, I can only assume that if believes (or had reason to believe) that Obama was not qualified to be elected President, then Shelby violated his oath uphold and defend the Constitution - and should be immediately expelled from the Senate.
February 22, 2009 2:18 PM | Reply | Permalink
My thoughts exactly, although in the extremely unlikely case that he actually believes the words coming out of his mouth, Shelby's moral responsibility wouldn't be discharged just by asking Congress not to allow an agent of some unknown foreign power to seize control of the U.S. government.
If Shelby believed what Shelby said, Shelby should have thrown himself into a hail of Secret Service bullets rather than let Obama's hand fall on the Lincoln Bible. Otherwise Shelby would be the most craven coward the Republic has ever seen.
Fortunately, Shelby is merely a liar claiming to be a coward.
February 23, 2009 1:48 AM | Reply | Permalink
Shelby's office is now saying that the reporting was a "distortion", and that Shelby explained at length that Obama was eligible.
Drudge had nothing about this. Interesting.
February 22, 2009 2:22 PM | Reply | Permalink
Page 10 of the Dog Whistle playbook. If you screw up the dog whistle such that its only susceptable to one interpretation, claim the liberal media took you out of context and distorted your statement.
February 22, 2009 3:05 PM | Reply | Permalink
Shelby needs to show his own birth certificate before he calls on anyone else to show theirs. I very much question whether he was born in America.
This is an important issue that needs to be verified - is Richard Shelby a ILLEGAL ALIEN in the United States Senate?????
Shelby first needs to prove his patriotism. Let's call him on this.
February 22, 2009 2:28 PM | Reply | Permalink
I haven't seen his birth certificate.
February 22, 2009 2:50 PM | Reply | Permalink
What does Senator Shelby have to hide?
February 22, 2009 6:56 PM | Reply | Permalink
You know, you're right! I have not personally seen Shelby's original birth certificate so he must be an illegal; or Allen Keyes, where's his original birth certificate? Prove it or shut up...
Come to think of it, where are YOUR papers, eh? Where are mine?
I think Shelby, Keyes, Corsi et, al. are suffering from Extra Generalized Anxiety Disorder Syndrome; otherwise known as, EGADS!
February 22, 2009 2:50 PM | Reply | Permalink
As for Keyes, I'm not sure they issue birth certificates in the Alpha Centauri system.
February 22, 2009 3:01 PM | Reply | Permalink
Someone should ask Keyes how he can prove he wasn't born on another planet.
February 22, 2009 4:01 PM | Reply | Permalink
Shelby's office in Birmingham: (205) 731-1384
Washington- (202) 224-5744
Leave a message with Shelby's office that he's a disgrace.
February 22, 2009 2:33 PM | Reply | Permalink
Thanks freerider. I'll certainly take up the challenge. Who else will join me?
February 22, 2009 3:25 PM | Reply | Permalink
I love it. I love it. I love it. The GOP continues to head in the dead wrong direction, pedal to the metal. I just hope Rush gets back on the case, too.
February 22, 2009 2:48 PM | Reply | Permalink
Can we just chute chelby?
February 22, 2009 2:53 PM | Reply | Permalink
This is the type of vitriol that is increasingly turning the GOP into a rump party. Shelby, maybe you should join the Citizens Council. What a disgrace
February 22, 2009 3:04 PM | Reply | Permalink
You think Shelby's not already a member of the Citizens Council?
February 22, 2009 3:09 PM | Reply | Permalink
Deport Shelby!
February 22, 2009 3:06 PM | Reply | Permalink
I think we've found a use for Guantanomo.
February 22, 2009 3:45 PM | Reply | Permalink
To where?? He already lives in Alabama. Just keep him out of New York City (shouldn't be difficult)!
February 23, 2009 9:23 AM | Reply | Permalink
Evidence, Senator. Verifiable evidence. Or STFU.
February 22, 2009 3:11 PM | Reply | Permalink
The first thing that comes to my mind when reading something like this about Senator "turncoat" Shelby is: "What a blazing asshole!"
February 22, 2009 3:23 PM | Reply | Permalink
Shelby is the worst kind of politiican, he knows the birth certificate issue is bullshit but he plays into it to brownnose the wingnuts.
Shelby should get leprosy of the face.
February 22, 2009 3:28 PM | Reply | Permalink
You will know our virtues by the vices of our enemies; our strengths by their weaknesses; the breadth of our embrace of reason by the ferocity of their determination to eschew the same.
I welcome suckholes like Shelby at the great marketplace of ideas. Let the madman spout his bile. We as Democrats are better for it.
February 22, 2009 3:32 PM | Reply | Permalink
I rather agree. Get these things out of the whispering stage and into the national broadcasts ..... and then let everyone see the egg that winds up on his face (or, apparently, his back-pedaling away - although I'd prefer that he keep pushing it and then hit the fan).
February 22, 2009 3:37 PM | Reply | Permalink
Small cheer for the Cullman Times of Cullman, AL. They immediately added the relevant information.
"Another local resident asked Shelby if there was any truth to a rumor that appeared during the presidential campaign concerning Obama’s U.S. citizenship, or lack thereof.
“Well his father was Kenyan and they said he was born in Hawaii, but I haven’t seen any birth certificate,” Shelby said. “You have to be born in America to be president.”
According to the Associated Press, state officials in Hawaii checked health department records during the campaign and determined there was no doubt Obama was born in Hawaii.
The nonpartisan Web site Factcheck.org examined the original document and said it does have a raised seal and the usual evidence of a genuine document. In addition, Factcheck.org reproduced an announcement of Obama's birth, including his parents' address in Honolulu, that was published in the Honolulu Advertiser on Aug. 13, 1961."
Glad **someone** in the state of Alabama has some sense.
February 22, 2009 3:40 PM | Reply | Permalink
I am borrowing this from someone who said
"The reason Sen Shelby cannot show his birth certificate is that his parents were cousins"
February 22, 2009 3:42 PM | Reply | Permalink
Tee Hee!
February 22, 2009 3:48 PM | Reply | Permalink
All just more distraction from the fact America has voted out in majority their ideologies. The GOP and right wing conspiracy theorists continue the rants of Soros financing, ACORN massive voter fraud, the press in the tank for Democrats, etc as reasons for their defeats in 2006 and 2008.
God forbid the discussion remains around people rejected their ideas.
Now what is happening is now that the base is convinced they should have won because of the massive cheating, they will do anything to regain power. I seriously doubt many of these people believe this ridiculous claim but that doesn't matter to them since Obama and many Dems are in the positions they are in because of massive fraud and cheating.
Also, I'm curious as to why John McCain thinks his ideas matter. If they mattered to the majority of us he'd be sitting in the White House right now. So, for anyone has McCain's ear, let him know his ideas lost.
February 22, 2009 3:59 PM | Reply | Permalink
John McCain has ideas?
February 22, 2009 4:20 PM | Reply | Permalink
LOL!
February 22, 2009 4:26 PM | Reply | Permalink
I heard he had one - it died of loneliness.
February 22, 2009 7:35 PM | Reply | Permalink
Maybe these Hawaii newspapers conspired a long time ago to cheat Americans about their future prez
http://whatreallyhappened.com/WRHARTICLES/obamabirth.php
February 22, 2009 4:03 PM | Reply | Permalink
Both those ads do not indicate where or in which hospital BHO was born. They only include a supposed address of his parents. There are other explanations for those advertisements that don't involve either a grand conspiracy or him being born in HI. They aren't proof of much of anything, and they certainly aren't proof of where he was born.
February 22, 2009 6:52 PM | Reply | Permalink
Just like all the newborn announcement in that page, Why would there be doubts about where he was born? His father was still a student at that time and its not like he would have afforded to be commuting between Africa and Hawaii.
Too bad Obama is an American, but there is a chance, for another conspiracy please? Hawaii was not a state, well until 1960 so Obama was conceived outside US!
February 22, 2009 8:05 PM | Reply | Permalink
Does the fact that he was born in 1961 kinda blow a hole into your ridiculous comment?
Or how about the fact that all Hawaiian-born people automatically became citizens regardless of when they were born?
February 22, 2009 8:24 PM | Reply | Permalink
Too bad Obama wasn't involved with torturing... The GOP would never dare question THAT! Birthplace, however is a whole different story... and MUCH more important....
February 22, 2009 4:05 PM | Reply | Permalink
“It's a small truncated segment of the electorate, voters who are reasonably informed of the issues. I don't think the candidates have to do very much to win votes from those who share their views.”
James Simmons
Are you, by chance, familiar with that region we know as the South. Utilizing any metric, isn't it absurd to assume someone of a quality higher than Shelby's would be chosen to represent the Alabama electorate?
February 22, 2009 4:11 PM | Reply | Permalink
The truth is.... the moon landing was faked. And also, Senator Shelby is a delusional racist.
February 22, 2009 4:16 PM | Reply | Permalink
Educate me about the moon landing.
February 22, 2009 4:24 PM | Reply | Permalink
Well then, if they claim distortion, post Shelby's comments in full, with full context. We'll be the judge of whether it's distortion or not.
February 22, 2009 4:24 PM | Reply | Permalink
Wow, there ARE worse Senators than Joe Lieberman.
February 22, 2009 4:47 PM | Reply | Permalink
It's early days. Wait till Obama tries to cut funding for Iraq.
February 22, 2009 5:02 PM | Reply | Permalink
Back when this nonsense started, and also the stuff about McCain being born in Panama, I looked up the definition of a "natural born" citizen. If one of your parents is a US citizen and they have lived in the US for at least five years you are a natural born citizen no matter where you are born. You do not need to be born on US soil. Of course, this doesn't apply here but it is still nice to know for those bar stool "debates".
February 22, 2009 4:57 PM | Reply | Permalink
Actually, that's not accurate - you're confusing "citizenship" with 'natural born." The requirement was put into the Constitution because they didn't want people coming over from England, becoming citizens, and then being President, thereby continuing English 'rule'. But they couldn't say "born a citizen of the US" because at the time no one had been. (Up through Andrew Jackson, all the people who were president had been *born* English citizens, or citizens of an English colony.) So this limited it to people born on the soil of the colonies or, later, the States.
So the question about what do to about someone wanting to be President whose parents were citizens but who was physically born outside the territorial US is still an open one. When George Romney ran back in the 60's, it came up (he was born in China? when his parents were missionaries) but he didn't get so far that it was an issue. John McCain WAS born in Panama, but either in a hospital on the US Navy base there or at least while his father was serving in the Navy, so it was felt that that would suffice. Still, there was a bill introduced in Congress (by Obama supporters, by the way, maybe even Obama himself) to officially declare that children born to citizen parents serving in the armed forces overseas would be considered "natural born". I don't think the bill went anywhere because many people accepted that exception already -- and the fact that Obama/Obama supporters had introduced the bill would pretty well keep them from challenging his presidency on that basis afterwards.
The "natural born" requirement is truly an anacronism - the reason it was added is long since gone - but that doesn't mean it isn't there and doesn't have effect. For example, Arnold Schwartzenager could never become president, but the child of an illegal immigrant who was physically born in the US could.
So there's some more fodder for bar stool debaters.
February 22, 2009 6:07 PM | Reply | Permalink
No, the "natural born citizen" is covered here:
http://www4.law.cornell.edu/uscode/html/uscode08/usc_sec_08_00001401----000-.html
with "g" being the topic that emears was referring to. It addresses the subject of who is considered a US citizen at birth, which is the qualifying stipulation to being eligible to be President.
It is distinct from being a "naturalized citizen, which is what you are confusing it with.
February 22, 2009 6:36 PM | Reply | Permalink
where did you see that Obama or Obama supporters introduced this bill?
February 22, 2009 7:48 PM | Reply | Permalink
What almost no one will discuss is the fact that the founding fathers had to dance around certain issues and be careful of their terminology.
They were mainly talking about slaves and blacks. No slave could become President of the US and no-one who was a slave at his birth could become President of the US, even if he had bought his freedom, or his master had granted it to him. In 1789, they had expectation that this wouldn't change for many years.
If a black person's parent(s) were citizens at the time of his birth, then he was a "natural born" citizen.
This verbage is basically taken from the Roman Republic's laws on Citizenship and slavery.
The business about being born on American soil is beside the point. And until DNA testing came along, the status of the father, or whoever was designated as such, could just as well be a non-factor, the mother being the determinant.
If the mother was a non-citizen, then the declared father would have to be a citizen. It was not honorable to question or debate who the father was. If he accepted responsibility, then he was bound by it.
If neither parent is a citizen, and the child is born outside of the US, then it likely has no grounds for US citizenship.
The very term "Naturalization" really overcomes all restrictions on citizenship because of foreign birth. Once you've been "naturalized", you are legally the same as "Natural Born". Black or White. Male or Female. There are not two classes of citizenship, anymore. [except Native Americans, who retained treaty rights]
That is my opinion, at least. I think if it were tested, it would hold. -- cdmn
February 23, 2009 1:33 AM | Reply | Permalink
There is something seriously wrong with Republicans.
February 22, 2009 5:09 PM | Reply | Permalink
I left the following message at Shelby's Senate office:
February 22, 2009 5:20 PM | Reply | Permalink
All I can say is that I for one "don't have any doubt" that Senator Shelby is not a criminal drug-abusing wife-beater who eats kittens and engages in devil-worship and trysts in local public bathrooms.
So I don't know why on earth anyone would ever suggest such a thing.
Shame on them.
Shame-shame-shame.
February 22, 2009 5:36 PM | Reply | Permalink
Shelby is still pissed at Lincoln for freeing the Shelbys' slaves. Clearly, the Shelby family is not able to survive without them.
February 22, 2009 5:38 PM | Reply | Permalink
A throw-away line, then why say it? Playing to your audience maybe? "I haven't seen it" as a qualifier is playing into the wingnut conspiracy, which is exactly what he wanted to do.
Say one thing in public, and another in private. Red meat for the lunatic fringe...
February 22, 2009 5:40 PM | Reply | Permalink
Shelby you're a racist shit and I don't even have to see your birth certificate (bc) to know that one.
By the way, other than your bc and word of your mother what other proof do you have to prove you're really the son of your father?
February 22, 2009 5:51 PM | Reply | Permalink
I've submitted the following to Shelby.
Your opportunity to object to Obama's election came during the inauguration ratification. You didn't exercise it then. For you to make public insinuations about his citizenship and qualifications which you know to be inaccurate is unbecoming a United States Senator. For you to do so when the country is facing two wars and involved in a severe economic crisis is unpatriotic and subversive. If you have evidence of anything substantial, produce it. If not, attend to the business of the people of Alabama.
February 22, 2009 5:55 PM | Reply | Permalink
When it comes to stupid questions like that, all pols should follow Pelosi and say: "I don't speak to that."
February 22, 2009 6:00 PM | Reply | Permalink
I'm just glad Harry didn't come out and say, "we should all calm down and appreciate Sen.Shelby's concern for the Constitution."
February 22, 2009 6:11 PM | Reply | Permalink
Shelby should be worried about his ancestry inbreeding than about Obama who ironically was related to Shelby's hero confederate president....
"Obama ties his mother's family history to possible Native American ancestors and distant relatives of Jefferson Davis, president of the southern Confederacy during the American Civil War".
February 22, 2009 6:29 PM | Reply | Permalink
you know down in Alabama,they know craziness runs in family's,they just ask who side is it on.
The Shelby's have been outed!
February 22, 2009 6:57 PM | Reply | Permalink
You think his family tree has branches?
February 22, 2009 7:38 PM | Reply | Permalink
The sad truth is that there is no gutter too low for conservative Republicans to wallow in.
Next he'll be saying Obama could be the Anti-Christ.
His ignorant, fundamenalist, backward, bigoted constituents will eat this trash up.
February 22, 2009 6:30 PM | Reply | Permalink
We know what will happen if these fuckheads see the original certificate, right? The next step is simply to claim that the original is a forgery.
Witnesses don't matter, contemporaneous newspaper accounts don't matter, the state's records don't matter, and the original won't matter either.
February 23, 2009 2:07 AM | Reply | Permalink
The FactCheck page linked in the post contains a blatant lie. They claim that HI verified he was born there, but that's not what HI said.
Disagree? Here's what you need to do: give us a *quote* from the 10/31 statement from HI where they verify where he was born. Once again: only the original source counts.
You can find the original source, a HI law that lets those born outside the state get valid certs, the reply I received from HI in which they refused to confirm FactCheck's assumptions, and a list of others who've lied about this issue at the link above.
February 22, 2009 6:49 PM | Reply | Permalink
So tell us. Where was our President born? We're all waiting to hear.
February 22, 2009 7:04 PM | Reply | Permalink
Oh, and while you're at it, please provide proof of all the other President's birth places as well.
February 22, 2009 7:09 PM | Reply | Permalink
That should be "Presidents'"
PS: How about those two birth announcements? Truth's a bitch, isn't it?
February 22, 2009 7:11 PM | Reply | Permalink
1. I'm sorry you were unable to understand my point. Let me try to state it as simply as possible. My point is not that BHO was born here, or there, or the other place. My point is that we don't really know, because no definitive proof has been offered. If you think otherwise, see the page I linked.
2. Apparently you missed the comment I left above: "Both those ads do not indicate where or in which hospital BHO was born. They only include a supposed address of his parents. There are other explanations for those advertisements that don't involve either a grand conspiracy or him being born in HI. They aren't proof of much of anything, and they certainly aren't proof of where he was born."
February 22, 2009 7:15 PM | Reply | Permalink
When did you or a link from a liberal-hating concern trolling website become experts on BCs?
February 22, 2009 7:22 PM | Reply | Permalink
I have no proof that you're not a child rapist. Hence, you must be a child rapist.
February 22, 2009 7:49 PM | Reply | Permalink
Is it just an accident you call yourself "lonewacko"?
February 22, 2009 7:12 PM | Reply | Permalink
The "original source" comment is particularly funny in the context where you link to a NON-FactCheck.org site with a link description suggesting it is to FactCheck.org directly.
But, let me break this down for you:
1. The statement confirms that the birth certificate on file is the original;
2. The birth certificate gives the date filed as August 8th, 1961;
3. The law for outside-Hawaii born children to obtain a Hawaii birth certificated was added in 1982.
If Obama took advantage of said law, then it is impossible that the birth certificate bearing the date from 1961 to be valid. The certificate has been confirmed valid, therefore it was entered in 1961, therefore it must have been due to an actual Hawaii birth.
QED.
February 22, 2009 7:34 PM | Reply | Permalink
Logic and reason do not apply in some instances. Your arguments, while based on fact, will not reach that bozo. And I apologize in advance to all bozos on this bus, and every bus, for the comparison.
February 22, 2009 7:41 PM | Reply | Permalink
More importantly, why haven't the Barry-Truthers got HI on record refuting the report? Clearly, if the FactCheck.org story is a blatant lie, a correction would be a simple matter. Instead, the crazy Truthers are forced to jump through more conspiratorial loops, assuming so many layers of deception that Okkham's razor gets slathered in bullshit. As always, they can't get any positive proof for their counterclaims, just innuendo and links to dubious blogs.
February 22, 2009 8:02 PM | Reply | Permalink
Stroszek writes: why haven't the Barry-Truthers got HI on record refuting the report?
The state of HI refused to confirm FactCheck's assumptions.
February 22, 2009 8:22 PM | Reply | Permalink
{Sigh...} I don't even know why I'm bothering, but you really need to think about taking a reading comprehension course.
From your own link: the state of HI didn't "refuse to confirm" anything...the Dr. just said that her original statement stood on it's own. That basically translates to "You people are so frickin' nuts, I'm not going to waste my time and/or energy responding to your ridiculous questions."
February 22, 2009 8:52 PM | Reply | Permalink
SchrodingersCat: I'm sorry you're unable to read. I asked the state of HI to confirm FactCheck's assumptions. Such a confirmation would take the form of something like, "yes, we confirm those assumptions".
Instead, HI stood on its previous, ambiguous statement.
Here's a second grade example just for you: someone says they're going to the store. You ask them when. They say, "I stand on my previous statement". That didn't answer your question and you have no idea whether they'll be going to the store today or next decade.. Ask a second grader to explain these concepts to you.
February 22, 2009 10:04 PM | Reply | Permalink
YOU asked HI to respond to your question and all they said was that they stood by their original statement? Gee. I wonder how many wack-jobs asked them to respond personally to respond?
Why should a state official bother to respond to a nut-job like you? They responded officially, which was all they were supposed to do. Why don't you ask the Bureau of Vital Statistics of every state to confirm that all their senators have valid birth certificates. What dind of answer do you think you'd get?
Frankly, I think it speaks highly of Hawaii that they didn't pay people to waste their time responding to crazies. The system works! HOOOOOO HAAAAAAA!
February 22, 2009 10:32 PM | Reply | Permalink
OK, junior, put away the toys and go to bed now. State governments are not in the business of confirming assumptions, especially false assumptions, as put forward by feebleminded pinheads such as you.
This part, I'm going to type slowly, on the off chance you'll understand: The plural of false assumption is not fact.
You don't think he's for real, you put up something definitive making your case.
Now.
Or STFU and get lost. You got nothin'...
February 23, 2009 12:47 AM | Reply | Permalink
QFT
February 23, 2009 8:13 AM | Reply | Permalink
If you torture their comments anymore, I may have to call a war crimes tribunal, buddy.
Refusing to respond to conspiracy theorist nutjobs is not the equivalent of "refuting the original report."
Life has meaning beyond your conspiracy theories. Take your meds and go for a walk.
February 23, 2009 12:29 AM | Reply | Permalink
ow DARE you bring facts into this discussion? lonewackodipshit had a POINT TO MAKE! Senator Shelbyshit's office needed some help, and this was the best they could do.
February 22, 2009 8:12 PM | Reply | Permalink
1. The cert pictures on BHO's site has *never been verified by any governmental entity*.
2. The 1982 included those born in the "territory or state of Hawaii" and was thus intended to be retroactive to those born before 1982.
February 22, 2009 8:23 PM | Reply | Permalink
1. The certificate on the site, which no-one but you is talking about, has been confirmed to contain the exact same information as the original (which is what everyone else is discussing), which you have already acknowledged to be valid.
2. And, yes, the 1982 law is absolutely intended to be retroactive: but the birth certificate was filed in 1961. That is, it was entered in the state files in that year. If someone who was born in 1961 filed for a birth certificate in, say, 1982.. it would say that it was recorded in 1982.
3. The state of HI did not "refuse to confirm" anything. They stated that the question had been asked and answered (and I broke down the reason why in indisputable logic.)
Got anything else? 'Cause you have been thoroughly trounced thus far.
February 22, 2009 8:36 PM | Reply | Permalink
Karl the Marxist says: The certificate on the site... has been confirmed to contain the exact same information as the original (which is what everyone else is discussing), which you have already acknowledged to be valid.
Please provide us an original, government source confirming the contents of the picture of a cert on BHO's site.
the birth certificate was filed in 1961. That is, it was entered in the state files in that year.
Now you're just making things up. Once again, provide us an original, government source confirming your claims.
Note: FactCheck is neither a government entity nor are they a credible source, so what FactCheck assumes doesn't count.
February 22, 2009 10:07 PM | Reply | Permalink
This is interesting: aside from the statements of Ms. Okubo, Dr. Fukino and Mr. Onaka from Hawaii state government, the image record captured by FactCheck.org, FBI, CIA, NSA and Secret Service background verification, and the fact that none of the Hawaii government employees has indicated that any of the information on the presented birth certificate is inconsistent with the record they have and have confirmed genuine (which you do not contest):
It is impossible to prove that any particular image is of the genuine birth certificate, because per Hawaii state law it may only be requested by family, and due to non-neutrality any such document must be considered to be potentially altered before being presented to a neutral party (to be determined.) It is also impossible to request this information directly from the state officials due to the privacy laws, and furthermore any such official might not be truthful.
With your clear upper hand, would you enumerate the exact conditions under which it could be proven that a person was born in a certain location at a certain time, in your opinion?
The reason for this question is that in order to determine whether you have standing in the issue, such conditions must be clearly defined and you yourself must fill such conditions. Naturally, anyone unable to fulfill those conditions would be ineligible to vote unless they possessed a certification of naturalization (although I am not sure how one would prove the genuineness of such an article.)
February 22, 2009 11:21 PM | Reply | Permalink
You prove it's false, loser. You're the one making claims. Offer real evidence, or get out of here.
I think the lack of air circulation in your mother's basement is getting to you.
February 23, 2009 12:50 AM | Reply | Permalink
The burden of proof is on you, not Obama.
February 23, 2009 4:51 AM | Reply | Permalink
NOW do you understand why,first cousins shouldn't marry, The spawn is SENATOR SHELBY!!!
February 22, 2009 6:52 PM | Reply | Permalink
I'd like to see Shelby's birth certificate just to be sure his parents weren't brother and sister.
February 22, 2009 7:29 PM | Reply | Permalink
I'm not sure what these people want. They keep saying "Well, I haven't seen any birth certificate", when it has been posted and certified by the state of Hawaii as genuine. Is BHO supposed to obtain the original and have it passed around from person to person for a few months? It still wouldn't satisfy these conspiracy theorists.
February 22, 2009 7:30 PM | Reply | Permalink
The picture of the cert on BHO's site has never been "certified" by the state of Hawaii. Their laws forbid such certifications.
February 22, 2009 8:18 PM | Reply | Permalink
Yes, and the birth announcement in the Honolulu newspaper was placed there by his grandparents because they knew what a great chance their mixed-race grandchild had of becoming president 48 years later.
February 22, 2009 8:38 PM | Reply | Permalink
Holy shit! I'll bet lonewackjob never thought of that! And with a real-fake address at that! They were such connivers! What other possible motivation could they have had?
Oh! Oh! I know! If the US ever got universal health care they wanted him to be included. [sorry, I just couldn't leave it alone]
February 22, 2009 8:57 PM | Reply | Permalink
Not to mention they also knew the middle name Hussain was a clincher and very much a part of the plan to see him become president 48 year later...lol
February 22, 2009 9:13 PM | Reply | Permalink
SchrodingersCat: there are many possible explanations for the ads, and BHO having been born in a HI hospital is only one of them. The ads could have been placed by his grandparents in case of a divorce for instances.
February 22, 2009 10:08 PM | Reply | Permalink
It's time to stop replying to lonewackjob because its head is going to explode soon.
I can only promise this: If there were any legitimate reason for keeping Barack Obama out of the White House it would have come to light long ago and Hillary Clinton would be the President. She seems to be doing a great job as Secretary of State, so all's well that ends well.
So lonewackjob, or whoever you are, unless you have actual evidence, instead of innuendos, and "lack of proof," just move on to another topic.
February 22, 2009 10:23 PM | Reply | Permalink
Promise?
February 23, 2009 12:42 AM | Reply | Permalink
yeah because that's why people typically place birth announcements. if you have to stretch your argument to using speculation about all kinds of bizarre possible reasons, why someone might have done something, then chances are your argument is wrong.
February 22, 2009 10:33 PM | Reply | Permalink
Or you want to believe it. Real bad!
February 22, 2009 10:37 PM | Reply | Permalink
There are? Offer some. Or shut up and go away.
This should be interesting...
February 23, 2009 12:52 AM | Reply | Permalink
Yeah, it was just remarkably prescient of those grandparents, considering that when Obama was born, his parent's marriage was illegal in some states, and Obama, had he been older, wouldn't have been able to ride in the front of the bus, drink at most public drinking fountains, or eat in better restaurants in many states. He wouldn't have been able to buy a house in most neighborhoods in just about every state, either. Yet they knew that it would be important someday to establish that he was a natural born citizen, which is only of importance if you're running for President.
Its amazing that with that kind of prescience, that they didn't invest in some high-flying stocks while they were at it.
February 23, 2009 4:46 AM | Reply | Permalink
He's over in the White House, maybe you'd like to stop by and ask to see a certified copy.
Dimwits.
February 22, 2009 11:07 PM | Reply | Permalink
Come on, people, give Shelby a break, would ya!
He's just another mindless GOP leader robot spreading the doubt. Remember, this is exactly what they did to Clinton in '93 and they have already announced that the GOP will follow the same rulebook as the Gingrich leadership in the 90s.
So, yes, of course, Shelby will say he was misquoted. But the work has been done: just get it out there.
Nice work, GOP automatons!
February 22, 2009 10:55 PM | Reply | Permalink
And the Paper is standing by its reporting: http://www.cullmantimes.com/local/local_story_053205749.html
February 23, 2009 12:17 AM | Reply | Permalink
I'm going to have to question why we give citizenship to redneck Confederate trash like Shelby who do nothing but pollute American politics and society.
February 23, 2009 1:11 AM | Reply | Permalink
see http://www.obamacrimes.info/thebirthcertificate.html
for the real facts about obama's birth certificate and how giving the "alleged" orginal to Fact check .org somehow exonerates the president. This accusation cameout before the election and was filed in a lawsuit that the MSM conveniently didnt report. The lawyer who filed the suit was a hillary supporter and long time democrat who was once the assistant attorney general of pennsylvania.
you sheep somehow believe everything you are spoon fed but the accusations have merit if you look at the facts on the above site or look at the facts on pennsylvania governments courts records site. Factcheck.org is own by annenberg which obama served on its board of directors.
You Obama worshippers never cease to amaze me when calling facts "smears". Mccain produced his birth certificate when asked but obama refused to even at the request of a judge. You all sound like the right wing attack machine when someone mentions facts. The democrat party is losing people because of its memberhips inability for self examination.
February 23, 2009 3:38 AM | Reply | Permalink
Oh wow! That's truly amazing, but that only leads to ask: if the allegations had so much merit, why didn't Hillary herself throw her substantial influence behind them? Why didn't McCain?
Hey, what conspiracy theorist rant is complete without a blatant lie? So now a Chicago advisory board on education policy is the Annenberg board of directors? You're aware that the Annenbergs endorsed McCain, right? So how's that work out? The McCain campaign was in on the Obama conspiracy as well?
You know, when you throw out such ridiculous failures in reasoning, it makes your frenzied insults hit like compliments. :)
Yeah, the 2008 election results were just devastating for us, weren't they?
February 23, 2009 8:11 AM | Reply | Permalink
Re: The Sheep Allegation: Deflection, much? A t