The smudge next to the doctor’s name and the parentheses around his “mother’s” first name clearly indicate this is a Kenyan forgery. And what about the dates? “Stanley” signed it a full three days after “Obama” was allegedly born, and the doctor signed it four days post birth. It only takes a day to fly from Kenya, obviously.
The fact that the “President” won’t take questions on the topic just affirms what we already know about this amateurish forgery.
Also, too: I don’t remember Roberts saying “Barack Hussein Obama II” when he administered the oath — do we have any constitutional lawyers in the crowd who can comment on whether the swearing in was legitimate?
*** Update ***
Here’s a video that doesn’t break the site. Sorry about that.
cathyx
It’s really easy to get a forged birth certificate on the internets.
Legalize
Fer Chrissakes.
Dave C
Does this certificate prove that Obama is a WASP? No. Therefore, it will mean nothing to the dead-enders.
Crashman
Well, obviously he ordered the CIA to forge it.
TooManyJens
Ladies and gentlemen, buckle your seatbelts. If you thought birthers were insane before, that was NOTHING compared to the shit they’re going to spew now.
ppcli
The usurper’s real name is Barack HUSSEIN Obama, with the middle name in capitols and boldface italics. So this document is a transparent forgery.
arguingwithsignposts
I have to admit I was shocked to hear this on the news this a.m. Will it shut them up? No. There’s a president who’s near.
South of I-10
I can’t believe we are still discussing this. Is it too early to start drinking?
kd bart
They’ll need to carbon date the paper.
rea
Every president since Andrew Johnson is illegitimate, because Grant was sworn in as Ulysses Simpson Grant, when his name was really Hiram Ulysses Grant. And don’t even get me started on “President” Leslie King . . .
Bulworth
I kinda sorta wished O had waited a little longer before releasing this. We could have used a few more months of Republicans challenging one another’s birther cred. On the other hand, maybe this will just inflame it. Nicely played, Mister Prez.
Also, too, I hear Larry Johnson is about to release Michelle’s “whitey” tape soon.
Bruce S
I have to say that I’m sort of disappointed that Obama released his “original” long-form birth certificate, which wasn’t necessary since his legal certificate as issued by the state had long been public. Donald Trump is now acting like he’s some sort of hero for “accomplishing” this. Before he was dragging the GOP into his absurdist drama and most of them weren’t able to resist him. I would have let these conservatards twist in the wind with Trump. They deserve each other. Sometimes I think Obama is a bit too nice of a guy.
Brian R.
That press conference was a thing of beauty. He managed to wedge in a plug for his budget priorities in the middle, and then basically told the media and the Republicans to grow the fuck up.
I also liked how he basically said, no, there are still going to be crazies out there who don’t believe I was born in Hawaii, but you know what? That doesn’t mean you fuckers who know better have to shove a camera in their faces every time they open their drooling mouths.
Davebo
Patterico isn’t buying it and he’s like a smart lawyer and stuff.
Culture of Truth
Obama saw Huntsman as a threat. Look what happened to Huntsman. Petraeus could have been recruited. Problem solved.
Donald Trump is not a threat. Who is getting all the attention?
Punchy
They’d better run some 14C-testing on this doc to prove it wasn’t made lass week. Also, James OKeefe will need to steal all Hawaiian typewriters to see if this matches any of them. A lack of matches conclusively proves this is phony.
General Stuck
And now for the next wingnut obsession. Why doesn’t Barry release his college transcripts?
The Snarxist Formerly Known As Kryptik
Guys, this is such a transparent forgery, I can’t believe I have to point it out.
I mean…it clearly says ‘Certificate of Live Birth’ at the top. That’s right not ‘Birth Certificate’, ‘Certificate of Live Birth’. I mean, who is this Kenyan Islamosecular Fascist fooling?
adolphus
@TooManyJens:
Absolutely correct. Ever know a true pathological liar? Every time you call his bluff, the stories get crazier and crazier. They never admit they were wrong. This just forces them to invent new, wilder stories.
Of course, we all have Trump to thank for this. He can now boast the president does his bidding.
ET
@Dave C: Exactly. They will never believe anything anyone says or any proof that is brought forward because to them, the presidency is the sole preserve of white men.
What is sad and pathetic is that if he was a regular citizen and they were showed this document and other evidence that he was born in Hawaii they would never think he wasn’t a citizen. So the question that should be asked by press people to the fools is:
If Obama was a private citizen and not President of the United States and you saw the newspaper announcement and his birth certificate would you still believe he wasn’t born in the United States?
Of course the press has a stake in keeping the “controversy” going so they won’t call the birthers on their bull shit – especially not to their face when they are looking for ratings.
mk3872
A sad, sad, sad day in America that we’ve come to this.
The media and our press corps should be ashamed of themselves to not have been able to quash this without using he said/she said People magazine style reporting.
Pathetic.
The Snarxist Formerly Known As Kryptik
@Bruce S:
This is kinda the same worry I have. I mean, yes the birther issue was getting ridiculously mainstream, but releasing the ‘long form’ just kinda makes it feel like Obama is saying ‘yes, you had reason to wonder, but now I put it to rest’. No, there was no legit reason to wonder, and this isn’t going to quell the crackpots. Their issue was never about the actual validity of your citizenship, Mr. President, it was all about delegitimizing you as a President and a political entity through xenophobia and commie fear.
@mk3872:
Shame is a four-letter word to the press. Look at who helped legitimize the debate in the first place by treating it as an actual salient, ‘serious’ issue. You can’t shame those who have discarded the very concept of it.
brentblah
@General Stuck:
Judging by some comments I’ve been perusing, the next meme is actually “What took ‘im so lawng?”
jacy
@South of I-10:
I figure if we just commence to drinking round the clock, the question of timing will cease to matter.
Culture of Truth
Indeed, and the oxygen flows to him and away from Mitt Romney.
Noonan
Politically this makes a lot of sense. The GOP nominations is about to get started and now Obama is putting his birth certificate on center stage. What’s a Mitt Romney to do when many GOP voters will demand skepticism and denials from their candidate?
Comrade Javamanphil
@kd bart: They don’t believe in carbon dating. Invalidates the whole Earth is 6000 years old thing.
cervantes
I dunno, that doesn’t look very long to me. I think that’s only the medium form, at best. This won’t be put to rest until we see a form that’s at least a foot and a half long.
Gin & Tonic
I wonder how much Trump paid those “investigators” he sent to Hawaii. Will he be putting a stop on the check now?
Culture of Truth
Obama is both cobra and python. He is trying to deprive Mitt Romney of all breathable media air.
passerby
I don’t remember Roberts saying “Barack Hussein Obama II” when he administered the oath—do we have any constitutional lawyers in the crowd who can comment on whether the swearing in was legitimate?
Not a lawyer, but my Dad is a “Jr.”. Now that my grandfather has passed, the “Jr.” is no longer required behind his name. Some legal technically kicks in upon the death of the “Sr.”.
But, questions about the font, the smudges, the length, they are all meat food for the ignoramuses grasping (gasping) at straws.
ETA: Oops, meant to bloc quote…I’m out of practice…
Chris Wolf
Freepers are saying that the document looks “brand new, so…”
Of course it does, idiots. It’s a certified copy.
Knuckleheads.
Maude
@adolphus:
Trump was out there right away, crowing. He dragged Hilary Clinton into it by saying she also questioned this during the campaign. Nah, Hillary wanted people to think Obama was a Muslim terrorist, but born here.
The spoken statement was lovely. The term carnival barkers was wondrous.
Edit, spell fail.
joes527
OK. So releasing it is pure politics, and I’m no expert on politics.
But I’m sitting here wondering … what was the point of releasing this? Now. In 2011.
It is his to release so … go to town, I guess.
I’m just scratching my head.
Just Some Fuckhead
It should be pretty easy to compare Obama’s DNA to the DNA of the residents in and around Wichita. Why won’t Obama release his DNA sequencing? What is he hiding?
Rosalita
good God, now Palin is twatting
Dungheap
I’m guessing this has much more to do with Corsi’s book and the chance that it could mainstream the birther nonsense than Trump. “Unfit for Command” ring a bell?
Zifnab
All this birth certificate proves is that Barrack Obama has something to hide.
Just Some Fuckhead
I’ve found Trump so particularly revolting over the last few weeks that I stopped watching Celebrity Apprentice.
a hip hop artist from Idaho (fka Bella Q)
@ppcli: I was thinking the same thing. Thank you for clarifying that.
The whole thing is just sad, because it won’t fucking shut up the insane closeted (or out, heh) racists who simply cannot abide a President of a color that isn’t caucasian (preferably mainline western European descended protestant, tnankyouveryfuckingmuch). Tan I get pissed off, so I’ll just stop now and check back in after my doctor’s appt.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
I’m a Hairlinist. I want to see Donald Trump’s natural hairline. I want him to go on national TeeVee and get that thing combed out.
BOSS BITCH
Please post the press conference when video is available.
kd bart
I want to see all records related to The Donald’s divorces.
4tehlulz
It’s pretty clear that since Trump has mainstreamed birtherism, the president has decided to troll the shit out of the press corps and the birthers.
At this point, he loses no matter what; might as well have some fun with it.
joes527
@General Stuck: You seem to assume that we completely bypass the kerning analysis phase.
scav
I don’t know. I think our Kenyan-Islamo-Fascist-Commie-Socia1ist-Clone Usurper-In-Chief is trying to bring down the entire Intertubez with this release. It’s all a part of his cunning plan.
(What with this and the whimpering about those meany critics by Herr Producer of the Movie that Went Galt, I haven’t stopped howling with laughter all morning. And Apple? Nobody’s believing your denial about having no plans to track users. Files don’t appear on platforms by magic because everybody knows that Elves make Keebler Cookies not Internet ones. sheesh. funny funny day.)
Brian R.
You can watch it here.
Bruuuuce
So let’s bet: will the percentage of voters still questioning President Obama’s birth be 23%? 27%? Or somewhere in between? (And will the number of Democrats among them reach even 100 individuals?)
stuckinred
@BOSS BITCH: Here is a tutorial on how to use Google. Teach a bitch to fish!
Brian R.
@kd bart:
Brilliant. Let’s press that issue for a while.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
@kd bart: Let’s throw in Newtie’s since he’s now asking what took so long. I would like Newt Gingrich to make a public statement releasing his second wife from any non-disclosure agreements she has made.
Culture of Truth
People says Dems can’t manipulate the media like the GOP can.
Obama just waved a squeaky toy in front of the Beltway. Watch them chase it like puppies on crack.
Admiral_Komack
I don’t think it’s funny.
I am not laughing.
I think the White House having to produce President Obama’s long form birth certificate to placate racists and idiots is deplorable.
It just goes to show to be black you have to be prepared to go the extra mile…or two.
This country isn’t post-racial by a long shot…and anyone who believes otherwise is an idiot.
Redshift
@General Stuck:
I like that one better; with the “affirmative action” stuff, it’s so much more obviously racist. Plus it’s of a piece with the absurd teleprompter stuff, trying to “prove” that Obama really isn’t that smart.
To which the response from anyone but a hard-core wingnut is somewhere between “Huh? Have you watched him at all?” and “If he’s not smart and he keeps kicking your asses, what does that say about you?”
Bulworth
WIN!
Corner Stone
The funny thing, to me, is that MSNBC may go 4 straight hours discussing the release of COLB.
Irony, you are once again my bitch.
joes527
Is this all about burying the whole Panetta/Petraeus dance?
I’m sure I know which story will headline … everything.
Just Some Fuckhead
@Admiral_Komack:
I agree. Why didn’t he say this in the press conference? At the very least, tie it back to the efforts to de-legitamize Clinton’s presidency..
MattF
I disagree with the commenters above who think this is disappointing. The Donald placed his testicles on the table and Mr. President chopped them off. I’m for it.
dmsilev
So, Trump will release his financial details now. Right?
dms
The Snarxist Formerly Known As Kryptik
@Admiral_Komack:
Bang on.
This should never have happened. The fact that it got to this point simply means No Country For Brown People.
Some Guy
I think the politics are actually pretty clear and Obama mentioned it in his remarks. Until now, birtherism has been a nuisance and in many ways created embarrassment for non-loony or non-ultracynical republicans. However, it became clear, I gather from O’s statement, that birtherism had become a way for republicans and their media toadies to distract the public from the horrible shit they want to pull. Obama needed to remove that tool of distraction as Ryan’s budget and the debt ceiling threaten to wreck the tatter state of our economy.
So why now? Because birtherism had become the new shiny object. And it is easy to take away and to shame those who have made it such.
Let’s remember: Obama did nothing wrong. His choice to ignore this until now is not a mistake. Nor was choosing to release it at all a mistake. Nor was it likely a calculated long-term strategy. He had a simple way of removing the new Swift Boat tactic.
Besides, the Republican’s true feelings are on the table now: end medicare, throw the US into default, and protect the richest Americans from the fallout. No need to use birtherism to tar Republicans. Their general hatred of people is all you need now.
Plus, Boehner gave Obama the oil subsidy cudgel to beat him with.
Birtherism is not a useful issue for Dems anymore and it only helps republicans hide the catastrophe they are fomenting.
Corner Stone
@Bulworth:
Kind of like when Romney said he would “double GITMO!” ?
Each of ’em trying to out pander the other on the birther nonsense. That would have been equal parts funny and frightening.
cmorenc
It’s official: Fox News is pushing the “now, on to the transcripts” angle, and leveraging the release of the long-form birth certificate as Obama showing “lack of candor” for so long in waiting to release it (i.e. don’t wait so long to release your transcripts). See Lloyd Green opinion article at Fox News website
artem1s
I can get the value of keeping the issue alive for the beltway to chew on but I think it would have been better to let a junior staffer throw it out there. it would have sent the message that it isn’t all that important, and the President has better things to do with his time.
Omnes Omnibus
@dmsilev: No.
Comrade Mary
@Corner Stone: They have to fill time, don’t they? I mean, filling time talking about the budget or the military or energy issues is HARD. Better just to work off their envy of writers for People and flap their plush, collagened lips for a while.
My sequence of comments at RumpRoast before this thread opened:
artem1s
BTW did anyone pick the President to legitimize birtherism in the pool? OK, not a pundit, but just saying…
Mike Goetz
It’s almost as though…Team Obama wanted to give clown-Trump a victory and put anti-birthers Romney and Pawlenty into a very small box. Obama knows how to use his weapons. It’s cool how Obama was able to origami his birth certificate into the Spiked Mace of Truth.
Bonus: Corsi’s new book is called “Where is the Birth Certificate?” Obama’s unimpeachable answer: “It’s right here, asshole.” He learned from the Kerry experience.
Southern Beale
Ha ha! Yes I had the same thought. We must check the kerning! I gave WingNut Daily four hours, tops, to come up with its crackpot forgery theory.
And of course there are so many other questions, who needs a long-form birth certificate?
ppcli
@brentblah: To which the correct answer is: waiting this long made it easier to identify the irredeemable blithering nincompoops who deserve nothing but mockery and scorn whenever they open their mouths.
gnomedad
Smokescreen! Irish usurper!
Chris
@Bruce S:
“Alan… if it looks like you’ve lost… act like you’ve won! Works for our President. Denny Crane!”
– Boston Legal
Legalize
While this is sad and pathetic, I can see the political sense in what Obama is doing. This accomplishes a few things, one of which is give more attention to Donald Trump who is not a serious threat to Obama. This should also put all of the other actual GOPer contenders on the spot by forcing them to discuss the issue, which they all know is political death for them. If they say what they think, i.e. that the birfers are fucking idiots, they enrage the Teabillies. If they don’t, the further turn off the people Obama really wants – the squishy middle.
Southern Beale
Oh and I must say I loved Donald Trump’s response: “I am very, very proud of myself.”
Of course you are.
Short Bus Bully
Blackity black black black black black…
Also too, the Preznit is a ni–!
The Moar You Know
Is he white yet?
No?
Then he’s not a legitimate president.
OzoneR
The owning of the media is great
Gin & Tonic
Can’t watch the video now, but did Obama really use the term “carnival barker”?
Bulworth
WND will be giving these away for a nickel.
kd bart
Next, where are Obama’s childhood finger paintings and macaroni art?
Dave
@Mike Goetz: The Corsi angle is especially wonderful. There is someone who needs to STFU.
gnomedad
@brentblah:
This reminds me of the grammar school joke: How do you keep an idiot in suspense?
amk
It’s a shameful & sad day full of gutter level politics. If the saner americans don’t stand up and face the right wing bullies, us of a is going down the tubes.
David in NY
@Mike Goetz: But I, like someone above, sort of wish he had waited ’til a few more candidates had firmly climbed aboard the Trump-birther express. Then pull it on them.
By the way, if it’s so authentic, WHY DID HE WAIT FOR SO LONG TO RELEASE IT????? OBVIOUSLY A FORGERY!
Bulworth
@OzoneR: Awesome
steviez314
That Stanley Ann Dunham signature looks a whole lot like Bill Ayer’s handwriting to me!
Bobby Thomson
@cervantes:
You know that’s a myth, right?
David in NY
@gnomedad: I didn’t read any of this before asking, WHY DID HE WAIT FOR SO LONG TO RELEASE IT???
Chris
@Admiral_Komack:
Yep.
You can confirm that just by looking at the number of white guys who’ve had to run for President as “post-racial candidates,” e.g. zero, even though Obama had to do exactly that. Nope, no post-racial society for us.
dmsilev
@Southern Beale:
As distinguished from every other day in the year, when Trump feels absolutely horrible about himself…
General Stuck
I think it is good that this issue will at least be tamped down to not interfere with the most epic news event of the new century that is the Prince William/Kate royal nuptials for Friday. Word has it the bride to be is so nervous to be having nightmares of being nekkid at the alter. Only to prove, one woman’s nightmare is a wet dream to some wanker somewhere.
Southern Beale
Well, here’s another conspiracy theory to chew over: it’s the Mitt Romney death certificate!
Villago Delenda Est
@adolphus:
Two words:
Sarah Palin.
Extreme Liberal
I’m not liking the sarcasm flying around the internets and twitters. Hasn’t all the snark been snarked, let’s move on to issues, let’s pound Republicans on issues, the budget or how about the governor of Michigan appointing himself dictator?
Comrade Mary
@Gin & Tonic: From the transcript:
Comrade Javamanphil
@cmorenc: Fine by me if that’s the angle FNC and the Donald take. Drives that wedge just a little deeper between the partially crazies and mostly crazies of the modern GOP. Who will run as a third party candidate on the birther issue?
And while it is disgraceful that our first black president had to do this, he has used this situation to his utmost advantage. Well played, sir, well played.
amk
@OzoneR: Bitchslap for chucky toady boy.
Omnes Omnibus
@General Stuck: … and now Rule 34 kicks in.
WaterGirl
If you’re trying to train a puppy, they say the best thing you can do is praise the behavior you want and ignore the behavior you don’t want. Sometimes I wonder if we are doing the birther’s work for them when we spend so much time talking about this.
PurpleGirl
@Jim, Foolish Literalist: Hear, hear. I agree. And he shouldn’t have another dye job for a month or so — he needs to show it’s real color.
Chris
@General Stuck:
No. The next obsession is going to be doubling down on “he’s a Muslim.”
(As if anyone in the cesspool of human politics could honestly be said to follow any religion or moral code at all…)
Villago Delenda Est
@Bobby Thomson:
“Is it twue how they say your people are so gifted?
Oh, it’s twue, it’s twue!”
“Ma’am, you’re sucking on my arm”
Mandramas
Hahaha, mistermix Muad’did? Do you want to become some kind of father-figure of m_c?
jayackroyd
Amanda Marcotte makes the same point. http://slate.me/ee0HKt
I think this is strategic on the part of the Obama campaign staff. They know perfectly well you can’t debunk insanity.
They want people to think GOP R Nutz.
Some Guy
Trump does not come out of this looking good. Crowing about what? Being wrong? He did not just say where is the birth certificate, he has been saying he is not sure Obama is really American.
Analogy: someone gets indignant with you about whether or not you really baked a pie they are eating, doubting you have the skills to bake such a delicious treat. Given who you are, many people evidently would reasonably doubt you could bake such a pie. You show a video of you making the pie. Is the person questioning your baking skills not an asshole and an idiot anymore because you showed they were wrong?
Trump will crow for a news cycle or two but he has egg on his face. They all do. The mileage on that clown car just went into the toilet.
Whackadoodles will continue to question it but the right is now without its most elegant wingnut fantasy.
Suffern ACE
@passerby: Unless you are royalty, you don’t get to keep the II, III or IV behind your name.
t1
well, good, he should have released this years ago.
It’s bizarre that he did not. Just a very stupid prideful move that gave fuel to all of the birther nuts.
(And, no, I do not doubt that there will still be birthers even after this, they will just lose their biggest talking point …)
4tehlulz
@OzoneR: Obama confirmed for TEH ANGRY NEGRO.
Tokyokie
Actually, back in 1961, to get from Kenya to Honolulu, one probably had to fly Nairobi to Heathrow, then Heathrow to Idlewild, then Idlewild to Honolulu, maybe via LAX. The connections heading east rather than west back then just didn’t exist. And not all of those flights were likely to have been dailies. So obviously, he would have hired a private jet to accomplish his nefarious plan.
Gin & Tonic
@Comrade Mary: Thanks. That is truly awesome.
Corner Stone
@amk: I didn’t get that he was slapping Chuckles about it, more friendly needling him to say what is true to anyone paying attention.
Villago Delenda Est
@The Moar You Know:
Is he a Republican yet?
No?
Then he’s not a legitimate president.
Martin
Not real. Obama was born in 2218 and sent back in time with this obvious forgery. Where’s his United Federation of Planets holographic authenticity of birth?
Mr Stagger Lee
@Southern Beale:
Didn’t you see the movie Telefon with Charles Bronson, he is an undercover KGB sleeper agent, when he gets the code “Miles to go before I sleep” his job will be to take out the Pentagon.
The Republic of Stupidity
@Chris:
They can always fall back on the foreskin issue…
FlipYrWhig
@Southern Beale:
Mitt Romney, the original Six Million Dollar Man! We can rebuild him. We have the technology. Lifelike, not so much. But functional, most days.
catclub
Will he also announce that his campaign song will be ‘Born in the USA’?
Martin
Heh. Obama called Trump a carnival barker. Truer words…
Norwonk
I still say there must have been a second father behind the fence on the grassy knoll.
Corner Stone
@Mr Stagger Lee:
Hence the Panetta appointment to SecDef.
Villago Delenda Est
@FlipYrWhig:
The important thing, and Chris Matthews will tell you this, is you can land a 737 on his shoulders.
Villago Delenda Est
@FlipYrWhig:
The important thing, and Chris Matthews will tell you this, is you can land a 737 on his shoulders.
Xenos
@artem1s:
It would have been best for the lowest assistant press secretary to walk up to the podium, fold a stack of these copies into paper airplanes, and fly them out over the press so we could watch them leaping into the air trying to catch them.
The Republic of Stupidity
Hooooooooooooh boy…
This didn’t take long…
Stefan
Actually, back in 1961, to get from Kenya to Honolulu, one probably had to fly Nairobi to Heathrow, then Heathrow to Idlewild, then Idlewild to Honolulu, maybe via LAX. The connections heading east rather than west back then just didn’t exist. And not all of those flights were likely to have been dailies. So obviously, he would have hired a private jet to accomplish his nefarious plan.
Even longer — back in 1961 you probably would have had to go Nairobi to Cairo, Cairo to Heathrow, Heathrow to Idlewild, Idlewild to Los Angeles, then Los Angeles to Honolulu. It would have taken at least two full days.
TooManyJens
@OzoneR: God damn. I feel like I need a cigarette after that, and I don’t smoke.
Peter
I, for one, can’t wait to see the rhetorical knots the birthers will tie themselves in to account for this.
RossInDetroit
@The Republic of Stupidity:
Tom Junod has already called for evidence of Trump’s pen1z to prove that he’s a dude.
Midnight Marauder
@The Snarxist Formerly Known As Kryptik:
I feel like this completely misses the entire point of why President Obama spoke today. This is basically what his entire press conference can be boiled down to:
I mean, that is what the man opened with, for fucks sake.
quaint irene
At first I thought this post was just a snark but then I just heard on the news ’bout Obama getting a waiver to release the original certificate.
*************
And I love how he got in a dig about being distracted by ‘side shows and carnival barkers.’ He’s looking at you Mr. Dead-Gopher-On-Head.
TooManyJens
mistermix: I think these NBC videos put in an extra div tag that they don’t close. Could you please try putting a [/div] (only with angle brackets, obv.) after the video? Thanks.
Comrade Mary
Hey, what happened to the CSS for comments? Blockquotes are broken, widths are fuqé, and the font and spacing are changed.
On preview: yep, it’s rogue markup. Smite it! Smite it with fire!
Chris
@Some Guy:
One wonders if “Trump was a liberal plant” could come next.
Gotta say, I’d be even more amused if it were true. Obama creates Birther candidate to mainstream Birtherism, then PWNs him. Trump gets to come out of it relatively honorably thanks to his “I’m proud I got him to do it!” thing which his wingnut base will eat up. But in the meantime, the issue’s dead in the water.
chopper
love it. now trump gets to keep preening for another month or two and the viable gooper candidates get no airtime at all.
trump isn’t going to run. even if he did, he’d flame out so bad he’d make 9iu11ani look like a top-tier candidate.
the GOP will continue to be a sideshow, of course.
Litlebritdifrnt
@dmsilev:
BINGO! Trump’s back is now firmly against the wall. Well played POTUS.
ThatLeftTurnInABQ
@Some Guy:
This.
Look people, part of the problem with Obama is that post-LBJ/Nixon folks have gotten so used to the idea that the POTUS is always lying out of every side of his mouth and then a few other orifices for good measure, that they just don’t know what to do when somebody like Obama comes along who will just up and tell you what he is doing and why he is doing it. But ohhh, noes, that can’t possibly be the case. Whatever he said, the real explanation must be something else entirely. Cry Havoc and let slip the pigs of speculation so they can dig up the magic truffles of truth for us to consume!
But in this case, there is no other real explanation. This isn’t 11-dimensional chess. Birtherism was a nuisance and a joke and in a better world would have been a national embarassment per what Admiral_Komack said at #53 above, but now it is mutating into something even worse, because it is derailing conversations about issues of profound national importance that will affect the lives of hundreds of millions of people. Just like the man said in his press conference. So he did what he could to get people to cut the crap. End of story.
Mnemosyne
@Gin & Tonic:
Steve Benen has the transcript up. And, yes, he used the phrase “sideshows and carnival barkers.”
Scott P.
You are aware that it was not Obama’s decision, that it required special dispensation from the governor of Hawaii? That no other person born in Hawaii can get their long-form birth certificate?
In fact, that’s the new spin I expect: “Obama is such a Stalinist that he strong-armed the governor of Hawaii into ignoring state law!”
Bill Arnold
@David in NY:
He held out for two years. There were at least two factors at play: (1) identifying and marginalizing the crazies (2) mainstream media was about to inject the birther stuff into the brains of many millions more low-information voters, where it would be hard to dislodge before the 2012 election. Plus, it was probably somewhat personally dangerous. Plus, there was soon to be a wave of birther laws, which would be a mess to unravel.
Brian R.
Newt Gingrich wins the race to be the first idiot to ask why it took this long for him to release the long-form.
Can we get all the details of Newt’s divorces too?
amk
GOOD MORNING. BREAKING NEWS.
THE PRESIDENT OF AMERICA IS AMERICAN.
What a pathetic gutter level politics by the rethugs and the silent complicit dems and a two bit, third rate, fourth estate.
AkaDad
Song of the day
Edit: Link didn’t work. Was supposed to be “Born in the USA.”
Mnemosyne
I’d like to think that this will make the media take a step back and criticize their own actions, but who am I kidding? We already know that people like Chuck Todd had their sense of shame surgically removed when they were hired to be on the teevee.
Fe E
@jayackroyd:
FTFY
Morbo
@TooManyJens: Seconded, site is borked at the moment.
Josie
@Bill Arnold:
This is an important reason for the timing. The governor of Arizona vetoed one such law, and her lege was going to attempt an override. One has been introduced here in Texas and in a number of other states with Republican legislatures. It would be a constitutional nightmare if several were passed before the election and had to be taken up through the courts. I’m sure the Republicans would like nothing better than to hold the results of the 2012 election illegal. Now, even if the laws are passed, they will have no effect on Obama, since the document is produced prior to his name being placed on any ballot.
Omnes Omnibus
@amk: You missed “first up against the wall when the revolution comes” and “fifth column,” but, otherwise, it was a good rant.
Comrade Mary
Thanks for the new video, mistermix. Everything looks cool here.
JR (Not the other JR)
@Southern Beale:
I knew it! Mitt Romney is a zombie!
Emma
I loved those remarks. I loved the bitchslaps to the press. I loved that he boxed in all the Republican candidates. The mouth-breathers will continue to drool, but for most of the country the issue now will be: why the hell are you people spending time on that?
And edited to add: he just spiked every idiot state law about candidates showing proof of birth.
South of I-10
@jacy: I just waded into the Facebook comments from a local tv station’s article about the birth certificate. The 24/7 drinking plan is sounding really good right now.
Omnes Omnibus
@South of I-10: Good lord, why would you do that to yourself?
homerhk
the comments from the nut jobs on the right may be predictable and amusing, but the ones of FDL are just plain scary. sample: “It’s going to be Trump. He will run and win as the man who made Obama blink. Sad. Scary” – yeah good grasp of politics there. Sample 2: “And this is news how exactly? Oh yeah, Obama again caved into the unhinged nutjobs like a mud fence.”
sighhhhhhhh……
Midnight Marauder
@Mnemosyne:
No doubt, but I think what’s brilliant about this press conference is that President Obama just gave the average American a pretty awesome card to play against any asshole who tries to bring up birther nonsense between now and the 2012 election. Any time some neighbor, or co-worker, or relative starts spouting off about how the president is a Kenyan usurper and begins to wander down that rabbit hole, they can simply retort “The man went on national television and showed his goddamn long form birth certificate! What more proof could you possibly want?!”
I think that’s the theme to take away from President Obama’s entire approach to the mainstreaming of birtherism. You blunt the momentum as thoroughly as possible. They may win the news cycle, but you take away any serious long-term traction the issue might have at the level it was approaching.
Emma
homerk: The hyperventilating PUMAS will never, ever admit anything Obama does is well done. Save your sanity and stay out of the swamp.
Martin
@Scott P.:
You can’t appease crazy people by feeding into their crazy. They just move their ball somewhere else and start all over again. This won’t slow the birthers down one whit. But what waiting has done is by letting the insanity grow to sufficient size and then calling it out, exposes it for what it is. That’s good for growing an electorate. Nobody wants elections to be decided by crazy people.
Nemesis
Next up: school records.
And Trump taking credit for making the president blink.
This issue will dominate the narrative until at least Friday. birferism=eyenballs for metworks. Expecting fairness? Forget it.
South of I-10
@Omnes Omnibus: Over 100 comments with all caps and misspelled words. Anyone who actually believes this is not about race needs to read those comments. I think I’ll go back to planning my festival schedule for this weekend.
Brachiator
@General Stuck:
Not good enough. He has to release his college transcripts along with every paper he ever wrote, along with the notes, and a certification from a handwriting analyst that the notes are actually in his handwriting, and proof that he actually wrote every paper submitted.
This stuff is sad, but predictably, the birthers are going to up the ante in order to continue their blather over Obama’s supposed lack of legitimacy.
AkaDad
I can’t believe it took Obama 2 1/2 years to forge this birth certificate.
ruemara
@t1:
Dummy. He released his birth certificate years ago. this was him using the powers of his office to get Hawaii to release their damn copy from their vaults. The one that no one but the state government has access too. This has been nothing but bullshit and the release of it today damn near breaks my heart for the fucking racism that’s so goddamn prevalent in this fucked up country of retards.
pat
Weren’t there questions whether the OFFICIAL certificate issued by Hawaii was forged? Anyone who thinks there won’t be questions raised about this “long form” is delusional. And the fact of his father’s race being listed as “African” has already started the “but the founders wanted both parents to be Americannnn…” Sigh.
It is not going away, sorry.
rikryah
HE’S
BLACK
BLACK
BLACK
BLACK
BLACKEDY
BLACILICIOUS
BLACK
BLACK
BLACK
and no amount of birth certificates will change that.
Bex
@mk3872: I (gag) can’t wait for what passes as the “news” tonight on the TV. I think the usual chief newsreaders are in London because something REALLY IMPORTANT is going on there and besides there’s lots of celebrities, posh hotels and fine restaurants to enjoy, but we’ll still have the usual balanced, “Obama says it’s real, but here’s an interview with a goggle-eyed loon who says it’s not.” And there’s your journalism for today, boys and girls.
Citizen_X
@Midnight Marauder:
Which was followed by four minutes of “What the fuck is wrong with you people? We’ve got serious problems to deal with. Oh yeah, and Trump? Fucking carnival barker.” It sounded like nothing less than the kind of talk you hated to get from Dad.
And yes, it will not quiet the 27%ers, but it will put them in sharp relief. That’s spelled W-E-D-G-E_I-S-S-U-E, people.
maus
@4tehlulz: Well, this makes the republican mainstream, RNC chair, Palin, the talk radio idiots all look like birthers, ’cause they *are*. It gives the linkage that further delegitimizes them. I don’t see this as a negative for him/us.
rikryah
While I think it’s ridiculous, because if someone put a gun to my head, I couldn’t produce my long-form birth certificate. Have no idea what it look like, have no idea where to get it, because the hospital I was born at has since closed. The only birth certificate I have is one that has similar information to what the President has already released.
It’s an absolute crock of shyt, and it’s only because this President is BLACK.
BUT….politically, I think it’s brilliant of the President.
Because, guess what, folks?
The President knows what I know….
IT WON’T MAKE A DIFFERENCE.
There will be a poll taken next week, asking now, if the Republican Birthers are satisfied…
the answer to that poll will be NO.
A RESOUNDING NO.
Because it’s not about the Birth Certificate…it’s about him being a Black Man.
PERIOD.
And, once that poll is released that reveals that POTUS even releasing the Birth Certificate doesn’t make a DAMN BIT OF DIFFERENCE WITH THESE PEOPLE…
The albatross that is the Birthers will be hung around the GOP going into 2012 like an anvil.
PS-all I know is that I better be able to look up EVERY LAST GOP PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE’S LONG FORM BIRTH CERTIFICATE.
amk
@rikryah: And there aint a paper in the world that would turn him into a white. A fucking racist country.
BOSS BITCH
@homerhk:
Obama’s thinking about the country, those guys are only thinking about their epic dick measuring contest with the right.
David Hunt
@Bulworth:
That’s not naerly enough. They’d have to pay me much more than that to take a copy.
Bex
@Villago Delenda Est: Is he a teatard yet? Then he’s not a legitimate Republican.
Omnes Omnibus
@amk: And yet he was elected.
Nellcote
@Xenos:
I’d sign up for pay per view to watch that!
amk
@Omnes Omnibus: And yet not allowed to be a president even for a minute.
Nemesis
Does this move supply the media with MORE reason to cover birferism as mainstream news? Cant Chucky et al go 24/7 with the COLB issue since, of all people, the president himself addressed the issue? This story now has longer legs. KKKarl? Do you approve? Thought not.
Joe Beese
@Bulworth:
That takes me back… It was such fun trolling NQ back in ’08.
But give Agent Flowbee credit. When he bans you, there are ISP blocks in place to make sure you stay banned. At the GOS, a throwaway e-mail address has you back in business in 24 hours.
Or so I’ve heard…
tokyokie
@Stefan: I was thinking there might have been direct flights from Nairobi to Heathrow (Kenya being a Commonwealth country) and New York to Honolulu, but mostly I was assuming the best-case scenario for trying to get from Kenya to Honolulu back then. But also keep in mind that a lot of international flights in those days, especially trans-oceanic ones, were three or four days a week, not dailies. And the planes were a lot slower, too. Making the trip in even two days would be optimistic, I suspect.
Omnes Omnibus
@amk: I don’t know. He seems to be doing an awful lot of presidenting. Hell, some say he went and started a war all on his own, others say he forced health care and financial reform down their throats.
Don
@JR (Not the other JR): I knew it! Mitt Romney is a zombie!
Meh, so was Kerry.
lou
@Scott P.: My expectation is now Republicans will scream to impeach him because he violated state law by releasing his long-form birth certificate.
amk
@Omnes Omnibus: Amazing isn’t it ? What with constant ankle sniping from the ‘progressives’ (eye roll) and 100% knee capping from the right. Not a legit president yet he did it. Guess it takes a black to show the whites how it’s done and thusly all the carnival barkers. And thusly, thusly a racist country.
Omnes Omnibus
@lou: That’s some catch.
Admiral_Komack
@rikryah:
President Barack Hussein Obama IS the 44th President of the United States of America…and ALL you birthers can kiss my ass…TWICE.
Corner Stone
@rikryah: What are you trying to say?
Fred
@kd bart: Can’t carbon date stuff when carbon dating is only accurate to +/- 5000 years.
No, it won’t be legitmate because Oily Taintz did not personally hold it and have it analyzed by an expert.
Fred
@Brian R.: I kinda like your layman average dude interpretion of it. Nicely done!
Fred
@Culture of Truth: I see you are able to snatch the pebble from my hand grasshopper!
jinxtigr
It’s really quite beautiful. Trump being a bombastic, arrogant, asshole robber baron is not actually an election-winning strategy, but Obama has now triggered him into all of that by giving him this ‘win’ and letting it seem as if it took Trump to force him into it (or something)
Let’s see the teahadists start chanting ‘It Took Trump!’ and go full metal wingnut behind him. They can work themselves into a glorious state of ‘incredibly ugly and lame to most people out there’ and enjoy every bit of it.
It’s positively Judo. It looks like Trump is flipping himself. Very little pressure needs to be applied, it’s just guiding his charge so that all his energy works against him instead of for him…
Strangely, Obama is also ‘flipping’ the media itself, by allowing it to align itself with Trump and all that stuff. I wonder what he considers to be the alternative to the media. Us?
Fred
@General Stuck: @Redshift: No, the response is to mention that Trumps son in law got into Harvard by having his daddy pay 2.5million because the kids grades were terrible!
Fred
@Mike Goetz: The timing is interesting. Romney was on TV last week and stated that he thinks the birther issue is resolved and he does not want anything to do with it.
As you said, this just puts Romney in an even smaller box!
David in NY
@Bill Arnold: Good points you make.
David in NY
@Fred: Yeah, but Romney’s birth certificant (“Certificate of Live Birth”) from Michigan looks just like Obama’s. So he’s got to oppose those “birther” laws.
Monala
Right after a woman gives birth, she is very tired. So they let you rest for a day or so before they ask you to do anything other than eat, pee and nurse the baby. It’s not until the second or third day post-birth that they give you all the paperwork to fill out (and in 1961, when new mothers remained in the hospital longer than they do today, it may have been even longer). And after giving birth, you’re pretty much only dealing with nurses, not your doctor, unless you have some post-natal complications. Ann Dunham probably didn’t see the doctor again until she was about to be released.
Karen
@BOSS BITCH:
I think this proves that PUMA/FDL/GOS won’t acccept anything else from Obama than either his resignation, his impeachment, his assasination or his suicide. PUMA/FDL/GOS wants Obama to apologize for not waiting his turn and they’ve said so. They want Obama on his knees before them, kissing their rings and apologizing for daring to assume that he had the same rights as any human citizen. To act as if he was as good as a white person.
And just like the Birther train began with a PUMA buddy of Hilary Clinton (not blaming her), it’ll be PUMA who will let the N word slip. Not the GOP.
Tim in SF
Can you imagine George W. Bush using the word “bemusement” correctly?
Pfft.
FLRealist
@kd bart:
Wonderful! I’m stealing this!
Ruckus
@Suffern ACE:
That’s not true. I was named the II on my birth certificate(long form! Well as long as the form is) and this is my official name.
This stays with me forever, unless of course I change my name. If I were pompous enough to name a child the same as me he would be the III and would stay that way. And no I am not descended from royalty.