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Chris Matthews Questions Rep. John Campbell (R-CA) About Birther Bill
Chris Matthews had a truly fascinating interview on Hardball today with Rep. John Campbell (R-CA), one of the co-sponsors of the "Birther Bill" to require that presidential candidates submit proof of citizenship.
After some drawn-out questioning, Matthews got Campbell to say that, yes, he does believe President Obama is a natural-born citizen:
"Okay," said Matthews, "glad we're making progress here."
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Well, he's no Mike Wallace in his 60 Minutes prime, but ol' Tweety makes me chuckle from time to time with his bulldog impression. I may have to start watching regularly again.
July 21, 2009 6:57 PM | Reply | Permalink
I LOVED the spontaneous Prayer to the Holy Flag that erupted at the end of the Castle Town Hall
July 21, 2009 7:22 PM | Reply | Permalink
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9V1nmn2zRMc&feature=player_embedded
July 21, 2009 7:26 PM | Reply | Permalink
That whole episode is just hilarious. The uncomfortable, squirming silence among the local GOP bogwigs on the stage while the kooky lady is going on and on is just priceless...
It's pretty unreal that people were cheering her on though. As we learned during the McCain-Palin hate rallies, there really are a sizable bunch that goes in for the tinfoil hat stuff. As a friend of mine pointed out last night, the divide in America these days isn't between liberal and conservative, its between reasonably intelligent people and fucking morons.
July 21, 2009 10:43 PM | Reply | Permalink
Stuff like this is why at the end of the day I just can't hate Chris Matthews. He's often infuriating and he loves clever tactics a little too much, but every once in a while, Chris finds that he can't take it any more and the result is a wonder to see.
July 21, 2009 7:36 PM | Reply | Permalink
Agree completely. Reminded me of when he tore apart that radio show moron several months ago regarding Neville Chamberlain and appeasement.
He can be insufferable, but once in a while even a blind squirrel finds a nut.
July 21, 2009 9:21 PM | Reply | Permalink
Agree.
About 95% of the time he's exasperating or embarassing, but I keep watching in hopes that I'll get to see another Michelle Bachmann-style meltdown. Tweety can be unrelenting when he knows he's got someone in his cross-hairs.
July 21, 2009 10:28 PM | Reply | Permalink
I love Chris. He's a Philly boy like me. Suffers no fools.
July 21, 2009 10:09 PM | Reply | Permalink
Oh, I gotta disagree with you there. He may have hit the right note in this instance, but he's suffered many fools. Gladly. I've even seen him encourage them from time to time.
But he did a nice job here.
July 21, 2009 10:43 PM | Reply | Permalink
Indeed, John Campbell is low enough on the food chain that Tweety can do as he pleases with him.
If Campbell had more political heft, I doubt Matthews would've been as dogged.
And what does Philly have to do with anything?
July 21, 2009 11:01 PM | Reply | Permalink
Indeed, John Campbell is low enough on the food chain that Tweety can do as he pleases with him.
If Campbell had more political heft, I doubt Matthews would've been as dogged.
And what does Philly have to do with anything?
July 21, 2009 11:05 PM | Reply | Permalink
He does get tingling sensations in his legs when in the presence of certain politicians.
July 22, 2009 9:00 AM | Reply | Permalink
This is a great smackdown. I have been enjoying the smackdown of the folks who say Neil Armstrong never landed on the moon...and now this.
Things like this should be whack-a-moled relentlessly.
July 21, 2009 10:49 PM | Reply | Permalink
This may have looked like a smackdown but this is exactly how this kind of idiocy makes its way into the MSM.
Next thing you know more shows on CNN and network news will have segments to cover the "controversy" and they will dutifully provide spokesmen from "both sides". Which means lunatics will be given a national stage to validate every thuggish impulse of every racist gun nut out there.
If it has no basis in fact then there is no reason to give the idiots a national stage to spout their nonsense. Except if you need to sell add space for beer and viagra.
July 21, 2009 10:57 PM | Reply | Permalink
Not to worry. Only the dullest wit would fall for this Republican scam. Look, I am a Republican although I hardly identify the present party as Republican. Still, I enjoyed Matthew's smack down of this dolt. Further, Matthews made a solid case for the real stupidity of this "not really an authentic birth certificate" garbage with solid facts. In fact, my sister in Hawaii says that Republicans are losing voters by the minutes since all the families have the same sort of birth certificates for their children. And the stupids call them all into question when they rail about Obama's. All that railing and moaning even when the Republican governor of Hawaii verified that Obama was indeed born in Hawaii as his birth Certificate states.
July 21, 2009 11:32 PM | Reply | Permalink
I kind of agree with you, but it is also important for folks to see that opportunist dimbulbs like Campbell really exist.
Example: tonight, when my daughter (16) watched the clip, she was stunned. She couldn't believe Campbell wasn't an actor playing the role of idiot.
July 21, 2009 11:49 PM | Reply | Permalink
Yeah, I mentioned the birthers to my mother last weekend and she was surprised that such idiots exist. Don't forget that most people don't follow the news, and especially the wacko elements, as closely as the average TPM reader.
July 22, 2009 1:32 AM | Reply | Permalink
Reminds me of the Woody Allen joke from Annie Hall
The Republicans know the base is crazy, but they need the eggs.
July 21, 2009 11:35 PM | Reply | Permalink
Sad that it has come to this.
Some lunatic makes an outrageous charge that Obama was not born in the US. A guy waves Obama's birth certificate and is regarded as a journalistic genius.
July 21, 2009 11:39 PM | Reply | Permalink
True dat! For christ's sake (or sakes as some say), this has been around for HOW LONG?! Jeezus. Tweety is too in love with politics to get it right all the time, but how hard is the argument?!
July 22, 2009 12:26 AM | Reply | Permalink
Oh, wow...Will they shut up now?
Please?
July 22, 2009 3:09 AM | Reply | Permalink
As far as I know, John Campbell (R-CA)is 25 years of age and has been a U.S. citizen for seven years, as required by the Constitution. Yes, I believe he is. But I will be needing some proof.
July 22, 2009 5:25 AM | Reply | Permalink
Christ, Campbell doesn't know what the hell he's doing.
Matthews is determined to get him to admit that Obama is a natural-born citizen and a legitimate president. There's no way Campbell can get through the interview without addressing that question. If he answers it at the beginning, he can use the rest of his two minutes to yammer about his stupid bill.
Instead, he spends the whole time playing defense so that he doesn't have to get caught in an exchange that will be decried by all seventy-five birther wingnuts that live in his district.
July 22, 2009 7:07 AM | Reply | Permalink
22 comments in and no birther trolls yet? Was there a tinfoil convention last night?
July 22, 2009 8:28 AM | Reply | Permalink
But seriously folks, I see more and more problems arising in the future because of the “natural born” phrase, which as far as I know has never been legally defined but is usually interpreted to mean born on U.S. soil or the equivalent. This is a relic of the 18th century which should be repealed. Any U.S. citizen of age and not a felon should be eligible to seek the Presidency. Why, for example, should Governor Jennifer Granholm be ineligible because she was born in Canada (her parents moved here when she was six). And yes, I even think the Governator should be free to run if he chooses.
We live in a world now in which not everyone is the product of a marriage between the high school football quarterback and the homecoming queen – Obama’s history is a prime example. If we don’t fix this, we are going to encounter case after case in the future where the birth history is unusual and we will get bogged down in fights over obscure birth documents. What unnecessary baloney! Any U.S. citizen should be able to run. That’s the American way.
July 22, 2009 8:45 AM | Reply | Permalink
Agree - Natural born citizen requirement ought to be repealed. How about just a citizen of the US for 35 years?
A friend's kid, smart as a whip, ambitious and all around great person was heartbroken to learn just because her biological mother was Chinese and her first 4 months of life weren't spent in the states she can cross out President as one of her dreams.
July 22, 2009 9:11 AM | Reply | Permalink
No amendment by which Arnold Schwarzenegger could become President of the United States will get one iota of support from me, no matter how valid the underlying argument.
July 22, 2009 9:42 AM | Reply | Permalink
As a Californian, I'll second that.
July 22, 2009 10:01 AM | Reply | Permalink
I suspect it's a requirement that was intended to exclude people who might have latent tyrannical tendencies because of having been formed in a place (England) the Founders presumed was less (lower case) republican in culture than "America." Now, I think we have some evidence that naturalized citizens may be more likely to understand the Constitution than some yahoos or scions of privilege I might name.
Virgina's post is thought-provoking in another way, because it makes me wonder about how deeply 20th century nativism is underpinned by the Constitution itself.
July 22, 2009 9:16 AM | Reply | Permalink
I am as populist as the next progressive, but I don't want to see this provision changed. If anything, I think it is even more relevant now that people are so much more mobile. I don't think we want some worldwide celebrity to have the option of moving to America and becoming our President. Let them move here and have their son or daughter run.
-- ARG
July 22, 2009 3:37 PM | Reply | Permalink
Is their a site on the web where you can buy one of those deluxe baggies to hold your birth certificate like the woman in Delaware was waving at the Congressman's town meeting? I would prefere mine with a Confederate flag, but the stars and stripes will do.
July 22, 2009 10:36 AM | Reply | Permalink
The irony of this scene is that the piece of paper 'from the hospital with the gold seal and the doctor's signature', that the woman is waving around inside the baggy is not a valid birth certificate.
I learned this in 2006, the hard way. I waited through a long line at the central post office to get my first passport. And when I finally got to the head of the line holding my piece of paper from the hospital with the gold seal and doctor's signature on it, the clerk said,
"Where's your birth certificate?"
And I waved the baggy with the gold seal and doctor's signature on it at him. And he said:
"That is not a birth certificate."
"Yes, it is."
"That is play money, son."
"No, My mother gave it to me."
"That piece of paper is like the certificate the sky diving company gives you to prove that you're stupid enough to jump out of an airplane. It is what hospital's give parents to get them to pay the medical bill. The real birth certificate can only be issued by the state. Fill this form out and mail it to the state you were born in."
And, of course, what state mailed back to me had no gold seal and looked like the birth certificate (not identical, because it was a different state) that Chris Matthews showed on the screen.
July 22, 2009 12:24 PM | Reply | Permalink
All the congressman had to say was....
"I believe that Obama is the legitimate president. That's not the issue. To avoid future speculation, doubt, fear and uncertainty, my bill will make it law that a candidate prove that they can meet the requirements set forth."
Then if winky continued to press the issue he would just look more like the true left wing shill he is.
He's not as bad as Olberman but he's close.
July 22, 2009 3:10 PM | Reply | Permalink
Whatever. I don't disagree that I would like to see more news show like PBS but with the shrill they play on FOX, to single out Matthews and Olbermann as bad is hyperbole at best. Have you listened to CNN, ABC, CBS, NBC, FOX or the like?
July 22, 2009 3:52 PM | Reply | Permalink