Obama released Birth Certificate.

[MayheM]

Some of you may not know there have been many people in this country that have questioned Obamas place of birth. Those people believe he was born in Kenya. Since the laws of the United States clearly state you must have been born in the United States in order to become president, this cause a big freaking stink. The debate was started during the democratic primaries by Hillary Clinton's campaign, but is now more associated with Republicans. Eventually Obama released a "receipt of live birth". A document that essentially states you had a baby and you received it. It was said that a formal birth certificate was not available and that the receipt of live birth was all they had.

Now, I have not been one of those people. Though I do not like the president's policies, I found no reason to question his citizenship. However the controversy continued and finally came to a head when Donald Trump joined the ranks of the "birthers" as they have been dubbed. Last week, Obama had a press conference and announced his long form birth certificate was now available on whitehouse.gov for all to see. I never even bothered to go because again, I never questioned his citizenship.

Last night a friend of mine who works in Washington called me and asked me for my opinion on a video he had seen. He did so because I have experience working in design programs. I watched the video and honestly I don't know what to think. It looks like the video is legit. So being that a lot of you guys have the same skill-set, I figured i would see what you guys think. There are several videos on the topic and several people showing the exact same thing. Here is a link...

[Chrille]

I suggest reading some of the comments on the video page as to why the video is bullshit..

[Blink]

Found this almost instantly. Looks normal

[Jike]

proof enough?

[MayheM]

Chille, honestly I don't read the comments on stuff because most of the time it shows the lack of intelligence that trolls the internet.

Blink, thanks that actually makes a lot of sense. Like i said I have not bought into the birther thing, I just saw that video and it seemed legit. Thanks for the quick feedback. Honestly it was late last night when i saw it and I was just now starting to look more into it.

Side note, I really with they would have released it sooner. The fact of the matter is by waiting so long to release the official certificate he allowed the momentum to build and the story to grow. It should be made a law that anyone who runs for president has to show their documentation no matter who you are. My friends boss actually put forth a bill that would have done the same thing. The democrats voted it down and called him a racist...

Oh well, thanks again...

[Dionysos]

It amazes me how much coverage this gets, whereas other things which would be way more important to release get the silent treatment.

[MayheM]

I agree which is why I actually gave it some thought. I saw it as yet another thing to take attention off the real problems the country has. It seems all too convenient that every time bad news pops up, there is something to divert everyone's attention from it. This has gotten a lot of coverage, and a big part of that like I said was Trump joining the charge. But Obama has not helped the issue by waiting so long, and being so secretive about so many things. If he had released this from the jump it would have gone away a long time ago and people could focus on the real issues.

[zombie@computer]

It amazes me how much coverage this gets, whereas other things which would be way more important to release get the silent treatment.

The US dept is sinking to new depts, people losing their jobs, wars are fought, but wait, more importantly: is Obama really American ?!?!?!

[Saxon]

It really bothers me how politics is increasingly about shouting loudly, and less about actual political policies.
Underhand tactics like the "birther" movement are really cheap and snide, stuff like this is what drives apathy.

[MayheM]

It may be cheap tactics but it could have been stopped quickly had he released the certificate as soon as it was questioned. Instead he let it fester and grow until it finally had to be addressed. I believe it was a play made to diminish the concerns of many people. Though the birthers are a relatively small group, they got lumped into a larger group and that entire group was then discredited as crazy. Obama could have, and honestly should have released it sooner. After all he is the president of all citizens of this country, not just his supporters. In his address, he seemed snide in his comments and still dismissive. While I can understand how it would be annoying to constantly have to answer questions and take criticism, it comes with the job. He kept the proof under wraps for almost three years. Why would he do that? The only answer I can come up with would be he must have had something to gain. What could he have gained? Discrediting those who do not like his policies.

Long story short, I am glad it is over. When he released the certificate I said right away... "it's about time. Now maybe we can stop hearing about it and he can focus on the real issues." There are far more important things, zombie named a few on my list.

In all honesty Saxon, the squeaky wheel gets the grease. It has been like that for a long time. We put these people in power and they abuse it. We complain and then put more people in power who abuse it... It is a vicious cycle and only we can stop it. The fact of the matter is, while some will argue that either side of the political spectrum is the enemy, we need to understand that they have both fucked things up for us all. Until we all get to that point, things will never really get any better.

[kkirspel]

Its kinda insulting more than 50% of the country voted him in and then was like "...umm yeah lemme just make sure you're legit."

At some point it got out of control and he should have released it(earlier I mean). But I don't think anyone has questioned other president's citizenship; got to wonder why they'd start with Obama... couldn't have anything to do with his ethnicity.

[MayheM]

Well people did question McCain's citizenship since he was technically born in Panama. He was born on a US military base, which at the time would not make him a nationalized citizen. However it was later, I mean after his birth, made into law that those born on military bases over seas would be considered nationalized citizens. But in all honesty, I can not recall a president with a past that was filled with so many unknowns. A lot of questions where asked and not answered. They where dismissed with a "you are racist". But really politically, he came out of nowhere. He was a Senator for two years before he ran. In fact when asked right after he got elected into the Senate. Are you going to run for President?" he answered by saying, I think that job is for someone with more experience. Rather ironic... Truly though, it all stemmed from him letting it go for so long unanswered. The fact of the matter is, if someone asked for my birth certificate, especially for a reason like he was asked, I would show it immediately. It simple made it look like he had something to hide. From there, peoples imaginations and speculation ran wild. Without the truth to stop them from talking about it, it continued and like you said it got out of control.

It should have been shown before he was sworn in, in my opinion before he was elected. Picture the embarrassment and turmoil it would cause if he was in fact not a citizen. There would be no recourse but to remove him from office, he would be jailed in all likelihood our country would be without a leader, because the election results would be nullified and Biden would not be able to take office. But to say it has something to do with his ethnicity would be untrue. Sure for some it was about the color of his skin, but considering it was the Democratic party and the wife of the so called first black president who started the ball rolling on the story, it sure did not start that way. The problem is, the race card is played every time someone disagrees with Obama. To the point where many people refuse to listen. That is dangerous. It brings to mind the boy who cried wolf.

But look at the election of W Bush, how many people voted for him? and how many people said he should be kicked out of office? The thing with being president is some people will not vote for you. Some people, like myself, just do not agree with his policies. It has nothing to do with the color of his skin. Most people who do not like him are like me. I see his policies as hurting rather than helping so I speak out, but show respect for the office he holds. A respect he should have shown when asked to show his birth certificate during the campaign by showing it without hesitation.

[Simpletool]

The fact we're even having this discussion is testament to the lengths people are taking to deny Obama's citizenship and claim his presidency illegitimate. We don't live in a post-racial America and it's really really difficult for a lot of people to accept an African-American president. People believe this conspiracy theory because it fulfills their own confirmation bias, and anyone who's falling for it is either really stupid or is harboring some deep racial biases.

McCain wasn't even born in the U.S. (however his parents being U.S. citizens still makes him eligible for the presidency) and there was no question for his citizenship. Within recent memory what other president has had their citizenship questioned with such fervor, only to see the debate continue long into their presidency? Hell, even had he not been born in Hawaii the fact his mother is a U.S. citizen still qualifies him to run as president.

This whole debate is stupid and is up there with moon landing and UFO conspiracies. It's really difficult to convince someone with an unwavering belief otherwise. Their entire philosophy is that every piece of contradicting evidence is another part of the conspiracy. It's a fire that fuels itself.

It may be cheap tactics but it could have been stopped quickly had he released the certificate as soon as it was questioned. Instead he let it fester and grow until it finally had to be addressed. I believe it was a play made to diminish the concerns of many people. Though the birthers are a relatively small group, they got lumped into a larger group and that entire group was then discredited as crazy. Obama could have, and honestly should have released it sooner. After all he is the president of all citizens of this country, not just his supporters. In his address, he seemed snide in his comments and still dismissive. While I can understand how it would be annoying to constantly have to answer questions and take criticism, it comes with the job. He kept the proof under wraps for almost three years. Why would he do that? The only answer I can come up with would be he must have had something to gain. What could he have gained? Discrediting those who do not like his policies.

This is a bunch of intellectually dishonest crap. It was the Republicans who took this faux controversy and ran with it for over 2 years fanning the tea party flames.

He released his birth certificate in 2008.

He did the mature thing by ignoring a group of conspiracy theorists and focused on the real issues. The right have made fools out of themselves by continuing down the birther road, and attempting to shift blame to Obama for ignoring a stupid made up controversy is really sleazy.

[Plague]

To clarify on McCain not being born in the US,

John McCain was born on August 29, 1936 at Coco Solo Naval Air Station in the Panama Canal Zone, to naval officer John S. McCain, Jr. (1911–1981) and Roberta (Wright) McCain (b. 1912).[2] At that time, the Panama Canal was under U.S. control.[3]

[MayheM]

Simple tool while i agree there are still problems in this country in the arena of race relations using it as an excuse at every turn does little to help get past it. It causes animosity between sides and does no good at all. Look at the claims that where made when the health care law was passed of racism and spitting in the face of black representatives. Rewards where offered for videos of it happening proving what they said happened did. Nothing was ever shown that even came close. But the stories never stopped. They kept on saying it and some people kept on believing it. I am not saying there is no longer racial tension in this country but I am saying false claims of racism fan the flames as much as the lie with the birthers.

I do however disagree with the notion that ignoring it was the mature thing to do. The claim no matter how preposterous was made and since it was left unchecked and unchallenged it grew. By not showing it right away he allowed people to believe he had something to hide. that has subsequently fueled the uneasy feelings people have about him. I am not saying it is right, I am just saying what happened. To put it simply, if someone tells you you have cancer and you ignore it, the cancer will not go away. Ultimately the tone of this country and the hate being thrown around by both sides is a cancer. If we continue to ignore problems they will never get solved. Then again, look at your statement. "The right..." for you it is a left and right issue, and you lump everyone on the right together as though they are all birthers. That happens all the time. All tea party members were painted as racist. For 8 years we had a president that many people publicly criticized and mocked to no end. Now that those who criticized Bush see others criticize Obama it is instantly seen as a race issue. We are not perfect as a country, but considering he got elected the race issues are not what they used to be. Sure there are people out there who are racist and ignorant. Guess what though, white people do not hold the solo rights to that one. Racism is not only a white problem, sadly all races can be afflicted with that crap.

As for McCain, when he was born he was not considered a nationalized citizen. It was not until later that a law was passed that made the circumstances he was born under valid for being a nationalized citizen.

All that aside, no matter who the president is, there is a law that states you have to be a nationalized citizen of the United States to become president. It stands to reason there should be a law on the books that makes people show they are in fact citizens. If for no other reason than to avoid crap like this.