'Birther' claims force GOP leaders to take a stand

[nofurylike]

By Charles Babington
April 23, 2011

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20110423/ap_o...birthplace

WASHINGTON – It's the conspiracy theory that won't go away. And it's forcing Republican officials and presidential contenders to pick sides: Do they think Barack Obama was born outside the United States and disqualified to be president?

-snip-

In recent days several prominent Republicans have distanced themselves, with varying degrees of emphasis, from the false claim that Obama was born in a foreign country. But with a new poll showing that two-thirds of adult Republicans either embrace the claim or are open to it, the GOP leaders for the most part are not calling for a broader effort to stamp out the allegations.

-snip-

Obama's birth certificate indicates he was born in Hawaii in 1961. Newspaper birth announcements at the time reported the birth, and news organizations' investigations have rebutted the birthers' claims. The Constitution says a president must be a "natural born citizen."

Trump's leap to the top tier of potential GOP presidential contenders in recent polls has frustrated party leaders who'd like the birthplace issue to go away.

-snip-

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[jaxx]

I think the traditional pubs are scared to death of the teabaggers. They will say what they think....PBO is a citizen....but won't call out the birthers because they'll get mad at them. JMO

[nofurylike]

(04-23-2011 05:18 AM)jaxx Wrote:  I think the traditional pubs are scared to death of the teabaggers. They will say what they think....PBO is a citizen....but won't call out the birthers because they'll get mad at them. JMO

i agree with you, jaxx. they are walking that tightrope that they helped the teabaggers to put up!

and it's not as if we didn't try to warn them

thanks jaxx!

[atomic]

I'm not convinced the RW wants to distance themselves from the birther crap just yet. In just a few short weeks, Trump has managed to convince over 50% of the nutters to parrot the foul accusation. I'll bet RW political schemers are trying to translate that garbage to something tenable that benefits the GOP. I'll bet it never occurs to them to run a straightforward, mano y man type campaign against Pres Obama, probably because they know they will have their collective ass waxed no matter what they do.

[nofurylike]

(04-23-2011 05:59 PM)eliz@sf Wrote:  I'm not convinced the RW wants to distance themselves from the birther crap just yet. In just a few short weeks, Trump has managed to convince over 50% of the nutters to parrot the foul accusation. I'll bet RW political schemers are trying to translate that garbage to something tenable that benefits the GOP. I'll bet it never occurs to them to run a straightforward, mano y man type campaign against Pres Obama, probably because they know they will have their collective ass waxed no matter what they do.

absolutely, eliz@sf, on all points!

and this is especially great: "I'll bet it never occurs to them to run a straightforward, mano y man type campaign against Pres Obama, probably because they know they will have their collective ass waxed no matter what they do."

they have boxed themselves into a corner!

thank you, eliz@sf!

[Treestar]

It will be interesting to see how much they dance around and try to straddle the fence so as not to seem too insane yet while trying to keep their insane base of far right wingers on board.

Unfortunately for us unlike the PL, the birthers will still campaign vigorously and vote even if the Republicans move away from them. They are that upset about a scary black man in the WH.

[nofurylike]

(04-23-2011 06:59 PM)Treestar Wrote:  It will be interesting to see how much they dance around and try to straddle the fence so as not to seem too insane yet while trying to keep their insane base of far right wingers on board.

Unfortunately for us unlike the PL, the birthers will still campaign vigorously and vote even if the Republicans move away from them. They are that upset about a scary black man in the WH.

that is a very important point, Treestar, that even though they are having to dance around and straddle (and as gratifying as that it to watch!), their insane "still campaign vigorously and vote even if the Republicans move away from them. They are that upset about a scary black man in the WH."

a unifier, indeed, that they don't have the slightest inkling they should be ashamed of

and, ironically, sickeningly, the unifier between 'baggers of all persuasions, including the PL, who go on to assist the far right by not voting ...


thank you, Treestar!

[Brewman_Jax]

The relatively insane GOP is finding that they can't keep any control of the mostly insane teabaggers--and they're making them look bad. Like riding a tiger, it's not if the tiger will eat them, but when.