The Logic Lifeline

A logical approach to sorting out world events. Where logic, opinion and speculation are combined to produce a reasoned, but entertaining reading experience. The unofficial hometown conservative blog of Woodridge, Il

Wednesday, July 29, 2009

Birther Bashing

I understand those who are hesitant to get on the Obama Birth Certificate bandwagon. There are several reasons I can name not to spend any time addressing it:

1) Self-preservation: If conservatives get loud and animated enough to "force" a move from the Obama camp and a long form birth certificate materializes showing a US birth with attending physician, it could be the biggest, most elaborate, most expensive "rope-a-dope" ever to be pulled off by an elected official. With a willing media, it could take years to wipe off all the egg from their faces.

2) Futility: If at this point Obama was proven not to be a natural born citizen, it would not matter he is already in office. This may be true. One explanation states that it is up to each representative to certify eligibility of the President. Simply by saying so, he is whether or not he should be. This would be similar to electoral representative casting a vote for somebody other than the one with highest votes. They can do that and if enough did that to sway the election, it would be legitimate. On a second note of futility, the best that could happen would be to force the issue.

That would result in either a retroactive eligibility from a Democratically controlled Congress OR Joe Biden would become President. At the end of a protracted legal fight, we would be in the same position or worse.

3) Importance: Some may suspect there is an eligibility issue, but that given the large amount of effort it would take to bring about any forced action, it would detract from more important issues. Too much political capital would be expended resulting in important legislation not being passed or being too weak to block malignant legislation.


These are valid reasons not to join the bandwagon. However, I have a few points to conservatives regarding those who do choose the fight:

- Don't short circuit claims by "Birthers" by saying Obama has proved he is a citizen. This is dishonesty at a very high level. The claim is that he is not a NATURAL BORN citizen. This dishonest approach is equivalent to the notorious claims that conservatives are "against immigration" and against "stem cell research". WRONG. We are against ILLEGAL immigration
and EMBRYONIC stem cell research.

- Don't join the dishonest ranks that claim Obama has proven he is a natural born citizen. The short form birth certificate has information gaps that come short of putting this issue to rest with confidence. There is no hospital name and no attending physician name.
- Conservatives should not join those on the Left in disparaging those who choose to make it an issue. So far the three I have heard getting insulting are: Bill O'Reilly, Michael Medved and Neal Boortz. Others simply bow out with silence or brief civil commentary.
- Conservatives should not paint "Birthers" as wackos. The term Birther is here to stay. It is not the most descriptive of terms but not worth fighting the term, so I will use it. The word and the way some spit out the word is an obvious equivalence to 911 Truthers. It is ludicrous to compare the notion that the government staged the 9/11 crisis and blew up the twin towers with explosives to those who simply want real proof that Obama is a natural born citizen. There are
several facts that would cause a rational person to believe something may be amiss here and want to see hard evidence:

1. It is much easier to prove Obama's natural born status by simply providing the long form birth certificate.

2. The Obama camp has spent at least $1 Million for legal representation to fight supplying the long form. Other than "creating or saving jobs" the rational person would wonder why Obama is willing to have that large amount of money wasted.

3. There were two different hospitals named by the White House as the place of Obama's birth. The reason for this conflict has not been explained.

4. A soldier in the army reserve refused orders of deployment on the grounds Obama was not eligible to be Commander in Chief. He was not court marshaled and his deployment orders were revoked. However, pressure was applied to the defense contractor the reserve soldier worked for to fire him from his civilian job.

So where do I stand? Am I a Birther? I admit a strong curiosity to know the truth. I scratch my head over the ease with which this issue can be put to rest vs. the great lengths the Obama camp goes through to avoid putting it to rest. I lean toward the Birther argument, but have little interest in championing it or beating a war drum here on it. I think there is a good balance with key politicians and conservative media being silent or low key on it. However, I am quite angry with those who are making Birthers out to be kooks. That is not a fair assessment. My final thought is that one way or another I hope we get to the bottom of this however it turns out.

Labels: , ,

6 Comments:

  • At 4:58 PM, Anonymous The Right Wing Agenda said…

    JESUS!!!!

    If you WINGNUTS had put as much time and research into if there were REALLY WMDs in Iraq we wouldn't be there now.

    A BLACK MAN IS PREZ..GET OVER IT!!
    and
    Get a life...all of ya!!!

     
  • At 3:03 PM, Blogger All_I_Can_Stands said…

    RWA/Joe,

    I really don't follow what your comment has to do with what I said.

    I am getting really weary of writing up a well reasoned post and getting your venom vomit responses that do not address one thing on what I said.

    Drop the nonsense or I delete your comments.

    You small minded liberals somehow are deranged enough to think that people like me give two rips about the color of Obama's skin.

    There are a number of black men and women I would gladly have as president.

     
  • At 3:58 PM, Blogger Joe Smoe: American Citizen said…

    Well SpinachBoy/Sky Puke…etc.

    I know that you and your other Aliases here like to think that all that disagree with you and your rants are me, but sorry that is not the case.

    You can do whatever you want to as it’s your blog. Hell, I even expect that this comment will be deleted. So be it as that is the REAL Republican way to deal with dissent or Free Speech i.e. demand everywhere else in the world but shut it down here in the U.S.

    As far as the Birther Whackos, and that is what they are. Don’t you think that the EVIL GOP would have found documented proof of Obama being a foreigner and thus scuttle his chances in the election. This is just another Rovian way to keep GOP dissent alive, no matter how weak.

    This is all just more fodder for the Weak-minded rabble that makes up the shrinking rural contingent of the GOP. The same weak-minded inbreeds that elected Bush and helped him destroy the industrial base of the nation, and thus their economic base. These Rubes just can’t bare to see a Black man in office and see that as a symbol of the demise of their world as they know it.

    I used to like Lou Dobbs as he addressed the Illegal Immigrant problem, now he is nothing, but the poor mans unthinking Flush Limplard. Watch for him to make the jump to FALSE NEWS soon just like another Muck Raker from CNN, Beck.

    Either way, RWA is right in saying if the members of the right had done as much research about Bush’s reasons to go to war with Iraq we as a nation wouldn’t be there now or ever.

    DELETE THIS POST …..NOW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


    The REAL JOE

     
  • At 10:06 AM, Blogger All_I_Can_Stands said…

    Wow Joe, 6 paragraphs and only 1 sentence of one paragraph contains any dialogue responding to my post. You said:

    Don’t you think that the EVIL GOP would have found documented proof of Obama being a foreigner and thus scuttle his chances in the election.

    No, John McCain had his own birth question. It is ridiculous to question his birth as his father was serving our country in the military at the time, but if McCain would have made any waves about Obama's birth, the statist media would have spent 10 seconds on it and had 2 hour specials about McCain's birth.

    Also, McCain is weak on confrontation. He accepted the short form birth certificate and did not pursue it further.

    After all, just like your knee jerk reaction, any questions about the Left's Dear Leader result in ridiculous charges of racism.

    Joe, I think you are smarter than what you present here. I think you could present some rational, reasoned arguments but instead choose name calling and irrelevant ranting.

    It is quite simple. Take a quote of what I said and answer it. If you cannot do that, then you know your argument is weak.

    It is cowardly, but easier to paint 'Birthers' as kooks and racists than to argue the point.

    Please, please tell me one thing. Why has Obama spent over $1 Million in legal fees to avoid showing his long term certificate?

    The facade of showing Birthers as kooks is starting to crumble as Obama expends so much capital and energy bobbing and weaving instead of exercising the transparency he promised.

     
  • At 4:46 PM, Blogger SkyePuppy said…

    Joe,

    "Skye Puke"?

    When have I ever called you names?

    Also, you threw me for a second when you mentioned "RWA." I used to belong to Romance Writers of America, and it just didn't make sense that they'd have anything to say about the Iraq war. But then I remembered Right Wing Agenda, and what you said made more (not complete, but more) sense.

    You said: So be it as that is the REAL Republican way to deal with dissent or Free Speech i.e. demand everywhere else in the world but shut it down here in the U.S.

    Tell me again who it is that shuts down free speech. When the Code Pinkers and ANSWER and Cindy Sheehan protested President Bush and his policies, how were they shut down? When lefties come to college campuses to speak, how are they shut down by REAL Republicans?

    But when Republicans come to speak on college campuses, the loudmouths who force the speech to be cancelled, let's see... those must be evil, racist Republicans who hate the first amendment, because lefties would NEVER try to stop free speech.

    As for race, the first time I voted for president (1976), I wrote in Barbara Jordan D-TX. Nice try on the racism thing, though.

     
  • At 6:13 PM, Blogger All_I_Can_Stands said…

    SkyePuppy,

    Don't expect a rational response. Just a barrage of venom.

    Also, in spite of the fact that both of us have posted pictures of ourselves (my face is shrouded, but it is obvious I am a man) he thinks we are the same person. LOL.

     

Post a Comment

<< Home