Forgotten in the furor over Orange County GOP Central Committee Member Marilyn Davenport's vile, vicious, and blatantly racist depiction of President Obama and his family as chimps is the reason that she did it. The caption underneath the photo read "Now you know why no birth certificate." The timing for the "satire," as Davenport lamely explained in her bogus defense, was no accident. It came within days after real estate mogul, and would be GOP presidential candidate Donald Trump, continued to harp on President Obama's alleged illegal alien status.
Before Trump dumped the issue back on the public's plate, it had largely receded back into the netherworld of fringe, kooky issues. But Trump single-handedly changed that. He had the name identification, media allure, and money to make an impact. Trump also had more savvy than GOP party regulars and much of the media gave him credit for it. He quickly realized that he had to have some issue, a hook, that would get the media and GOP party tongues clucking, and type him as a force to be reckoned within the GOP. Talk of the debt, tax reform, deficit reduction, jobs and the economy would not do it. The mainstream GOP party leaders, and the would-be candidates, all with much more political experience and credibility than Trump, had already firmly staked out their turf on these issues. The only surefire issue that could get the requisite media attention and the public's ear was birtherism. It worked.
Trump pounded on the issue initially and the media took the bait. Trump then slyly backed off for a moment and talked about the familiar substantive issues of trade, China, and the economy. But birtherism was never far from his agenda. He quickly came back to it at a recent Tea Party pep rally in Boca Raton, Florida and in an interview the day after the filing deadline for federal taxes, he thundered that he'd publicly disclose his tax information if Obama would produce his "real" birth certificate. It worked again. The media reported it as a real story and ran with it. That touched off shudders among mainstream GOP leaders who publicly scrambled to denounce Trump's talk of birtherism and fast distance themselves from him.
GOP party leaders seemingly have finally woken up to the Frankenstein monster that they created. By either ignoring the birther movement or tacitly egging it on, it could turn the GOP presidential nomination derby into a freak circus. This would wreck any chance that a GOP presidential candidate has to snatch back the White House. Unfortunately for the GOP, the monster that Trump unleashed again is back on the prowl. A legion of websites, bloggers, and the conservative site WorldNetDaily, and the pack of right-wing talk show hosts, including Fox's Sean Hannity, relentlessly pound on the issue. They are read, watched and listened to, and sadly believed, by millions of Americans.
Polls have consistently shown that the belief that Obama is not an American citizen, or at best, that some have doubts about his citizenship, has huge traction among a near majority of Republicans. It also has resonance among the general public where some polls show that a significant number of voters openly wonder about the president's true place of birth. Trump was well aware of the numbers that doubt the president's American citizenship. And he is even more aware that the inflammatory issue is driven by part naked racism, and in part by the GOP's loathing of Obama's economic policies, and moderate political views.
In the days since Trump began riding the birther issue hard, he's gotten GOP leaders to acknowledge that he's a party thorn by either denouncing him as former President George W. Bush chief strategist Karl Rove did, or praise him as Sarah Palin did, or field reports from South Carolina governor Nikki Haley and others that Trump is calling to say he's serious about launching a presidential bid. Trump even got Obama to stoop down and publicly comment on the issue and his birth, something that he had scrupulously avoided.
A recent straw poll showed that Trump's birther crusade has paid off. He now tops the most favored list of potential GOP presidential candidates. The straw poll is, of course, just a popularity poll at this stage of the political game. But it does provide even more evidence that Trump and the birther issue are again a "legitimate" talking point issue and concern for millions.
That's bad news for GOP mainstream leaders, who now say they want the issue, and Trump to go away. That's not going to happen anytime soon. Trump and the birther issue are just too juicy and irresistible issue for much of the media to ignore, and worse still, for millions of Americans. The GOP can thank itself and Trump for that.
Earl Ofari Hutchinson is an author and political analyst. He is an associate editor of New America Media. He hosts a national Capitol Hill broadcast radio talk show on KTYM Radio Los Angeles and WFAX Radio Washington D.C. streamed on The Hutchinson Report Newsmaker Hour on blogtalkradio.com and wfax.com and Internet TV broadcast on thehutchinsonreportnews.com. Follow Earl Ofari Hutchinson on Twitter.
Follow Earl Ofari Hutchinson on Twitter: www.twitter.com/earlhutchinson
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 |
 |
|
| Obama | Romney | |
|---|---|---|
| Electoral Votes (270 to win) |
332 | 206 |
| Obama | Romney | |
|---|---|---|
| Total | 65,899,660 | 60,932,152 |
| Percent | 51.1% | 47.2% |
| Democrats* | Republicans | |
|---|---|---|
| Current Senate | 53 | 47 |
| Seats gained or lost | +2 | -2 |
| New Total | 55 | 45 |
| Democrats | Republicans | |
|---|---|---|
| Seats won | 201 | 234 |
It seems to me Obama has been given a pass on many issues. Politically correctness has abandoned common sense and the rule of law.
What amazes me is that you birthers think that the Supreme Court and Hawaii government officials are all in this conspiracy to protect Obama. Just because you can imagine something in your head does not make it true.
- Paul Simon
If you google 'John McCain natural born citizen' you will find numerous sources for this. Here is one of them:
http://www.govtrack.us/congress/billtext.xpd?bill=sr110-511
What is interesting is that Obama signed this bill. To me this means Obama was fully aware of what a natural born citizen is and that it is a requirement for being a candidate for POTUS.
But this issue was never brought up or resolved when Obama was running for the office of POTUS. Ask yourself why McCain was singled out and not Obama?
deny all you want, but there is NO logical reason for people to question our President.
While this story may play great with the Republican base, it turns off most moderates, which is why even many conservative pundits think Trump is handing Obama the election.
Besides, I expect he carries a US Passport and has had one for 40-odd years (since he traveled to Indonesia in the 1960s). Don't you have to either prove to the passport office that you are a "natural born US Citizen" or a "naturalized" US Citizen to get one of those? Aren't there indications on that document as to which it is?
Is Mr. Trump implying that the US Passport Office is allowing non-citizens to get US Passports?
Is he implying that President Obama never had a mother?
Read and understand the Constitution.
Section 1 of Article Two of the United States Constitution sets forth the eligibility requirements for serving as President of the United States:
“ No person except a natural born Citizen, or a Citizen of the United States, at the time of the Adoption of this Constitution, shall be eligible to the Office of President; neither shall any Person be eligible to that Office who shall not have attained to the Age of thirty-five Years, and been fourteen Years a Resident within the United States."
John Bingham stated in the House of Representatives in 1862:
Who are natural-born citizens but those born in the Republic? […] [P]ersons born within the Republic, of parents owing allegiance to no other sovereignty, are natural born citizens. Gentleman can find no exception to this statement touching natural-born citizens except what is said in the Constitution relating to Indians.[13]
He reiterated his statement in 1866:
Every human being born within the jurisdiction of the United States of parents not owing allegiance to any foreign sovereignty is, in the language of your Constitution itself, a natural born citizen.[14]
As you can see the word "parents" not "parent" was specific. The intent was to be sure the POTUS was 100% American with no allegiance to another country, and by birth of two American citizen parents, that would be assured.
both my parents were born and raised in the US. i was born in another country (not on a military base like mccain), and so i am not a natural born US citizen and consequently i cannot ever be elected president and i have known this all my life, as has obama; and i seriously doubt he would have ever done everything in his life (including making statements back in his college days that he would one day be president) if he knew he was not a natural born citizen.
this alone makes the opposition to his candidacy ludicrious
Well Trump, "none" of us were born here, except of course in the case of the American Indian. The whole "he's not one of us" is completely based on race. Who knew the Donald was racist? Or is it his big Ego that's just playing to them?
Could it be because both Obama's grandmother and the Kenyan Ambassador both said that he was born in Kenya? Could it be because Obama still has not released his birth certificate (and he hasn't despite what you've been told. He's released a copy of the Certificate Of Live Birth which doesn't have the hospital and birthplace on it)?
Personally I really don't care and as the former Gov. of Hawaii (a Republican) said that she saw the birth certificate and he was born in Hawaii that is good enough for me. It is odd however that the current Governor of Hawaii can't find the birth certificate after repeatadly calling for Obama to release it.
Much of this Birther controversy has been created by Obama and those around him. Had John McCain refused to release his info when some brought up that he was born in Panama then we would have had the same issues. As McCain released the pertinent information he put the issue to rest. Obama has not done so.
I am not making this up. Almost like "Who's on first"!
When I present my credit card, sometimes the clerk won't accept it because my sex doesn't match my first name. When I tell them they are mispronouncing my name and that it is the most popular male name in Slovak . . . that's when their eyes start to glaze over and they ask me to show them my driver's license
Get Trump fitted for his tinfoil hat.
Section 1 of Article Two of the United States Constitution sets forth the eligibility requirements for serving as President of the United States:
“ No person except a natural born Citizen, or a Citizen of the United States, at the time of the Adoption of this Constitution, shall be eligible to the Office of President; neither shall any Person be eligible to that Office who shall not have attained to the Age of thirty-five Years, and been fourteen Years a Resident within the United States."
However, I do applaud Donald Trump for using Obamas birth issue to bring his own presence into the political ring. He creatively got everyones attention by asking a question, not hurting anyone, (unless Obama's U.S. birth is proven a lie.)
I think Trump is the type of business man, not professional politician, that we need in the white house to get our nation back on track. He has some good ideas and some good, workable plans that would make a positive difference in this country. Also, he would not bend or take on special interest groups that he would later owe. I also believe, as a business man, he would do well in negotiating laws and deals with foreign countries. So far, of all the possible choices, Trump would get my vote.