Orly Taitz Cheers As States Ready To Consider 'Birther' Legislation
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Ultra-conservative website WorldNetDaily claims that it has succeeded in receiving confirmation from legislators in at least four states that bills concerning Obama's birthplace and birth certificate will be considered in the upcoming legislative session, a development that pleases so-called "Birther queen" Orly Taitz.
Though once considered a fringe movement only active in the most conservative, anti-Obama ranks, the recent wave elections and their reverberations throughout state legislatures and governorships could potentially create an avenue for these birther bills to emerge successfully as law.
Assemblyman Daryl Metcalfe of Pennsylvania, a state soon to be controlled by Republicans at the House, Senate and governor's level, told WND, "Once we're sworn in we'll be introducing the legislation that would require presidential candidates to prove their natural born citizenship before they are allowed to file petitions to have their name on the state ballot."
Such a proposal is not new, but it is more tangible in the current political environment. Arizona introduced a similar bill last year, which eventually failed to get enough votes in the state Senate. According to WND, Arizona, soon to have even larger GOP majorities and still led by Gov. Jan Brewer (R), will remount the birther effort next year.
In Texas, a state overwhelming controlled by Republicans, State Representative Leo Berman has made buzz by announcing legislation with the same intent.
"If Obama is going to run for re-election in 2012, he'll have to show our secretary of state his birth certificate and prove he's a natural-born citizen," Berman told WND. "This is going to be significant."
And in Georgia, which has similar Republican majorities at the state level and in the governor's office, GOP Rep. Mark Hatfield told WND that he'd renew previous legislation concerning the issue of official documentation of candidates' birthplaces.
"Birther queen" Orly Taitz has unsurprisingly showed her support for the latest murmurs of action on the issue. She's since copied and pasted the WND story on her blog, with an enthusiastic title, "MORE STATES ARE EMBRACING THE ELIGIBILITY ISSUE."
Polls gauging the public's opinion about Obama's birthplace have shown that a remarkable degree of skepticism lingers, despite the fact that the president has displayed a copy of his birth certificate. In one survey, more than a quarter of respondents said that the president was either "definitely not" or "probably not" born in the United States.
On election night, MSNBC host Ed Schultz warned that the impending surrender of congressional control to Republicans would result in a group of legislators that would "go so far as to try to impeach President Obama."
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The Huffington Post Nick Wing First Posted: 11/23/10 10:45 AM ET Updated: 05/25/11 07:15 PM ET