I've ignored questions about President Obama's citizenship from the very beginning. My view has always been that if he were not a U.S. citizen, there's no way the conspiracy could hold. Thinking solely about the mainstream media for a moment, there are probably 1,000 or so journalists who would "literally stab a baby" (to quote Mark from "Peep Show") to get this story...if there were a story to be gotten.
(Typical "birther" response: But the liberal media would never let this story come to light; they're just covering for Obama! Typical SAJU response: Okay, how about the non-liberal media?)
Seriously, if you're the guy or gal who breaks this story, you become a legend in your profession; a significant figure in American history...and, oh yeah, you'll also get paid milions upon millions of dollars, be treated like a rock star by certain audiences, etc. It would be hard for even the most Obama-loving journalist to turn that down.
(Note that I only mentioned the media here. Lots of other people, though, had/have an interest in proving that this guy isn't a natural born citizen. Had Hillary Clinton been able to prove it, for example, she'd be president right now. Same with John McCain. And how about the $30,000-per-year clerk in Hawaii who knows about forged documents? You think that guy's just gonna keep quiet...with fame, fortune, and history on the line?)
Having said all of that, I still think it's mildly important for me to understand the basic birther claims, just because they are part of contemporary political discourse.
There are only two major claims left standing, I believe. I've listed them below, along with responses, and the birther rebuttal to those responses:
1. Yeah, sure, Obama released a birth certificate, but there are reasons to believe it's a forgery, that it's been tampered with, that it's not definitive, etc.
Response: Credible people have looked at the document that Obama released and have declared it to be legitimate and definitive.
Rebuttal: We disagree with those so-called "credible" people.
2. Yeah, sure, Obama released a birth certificate, but he didn't release the original birth records that the state keeps; those have more detailed information. Why not release the original records and put the issue to rest once and for all?
Response: The State of Hawaii doesn't release those records to anyone...not even the person whose name appears on them, not even when that person is the president of the United States. Even so, the director of the state health department says that she has reviewed the original records, and that they indicate that Barack Obama was born in Hawaii.
Rebuttal: Without seeing the records for ourselves, we can't be sure they're not fake. And they may very well be fake, because a clerk who used to work in Hawaii has signed an affidavit indicating that he was told, by his supervisors, that the original birth records for Barack Obama simply do not exist in Hawaii's system.
Footnote: Here's one thing I've learned about conspiracy theorists over the years--they know the conspiracy better than you do. Most of us have never taken seriously the idea that Hollywood Jews + Dave Thomas from Wendy's (who, by the way, faked his own death because he'd been targeted for assasination by the Vatican) orchestrated 9/11. But the people who take this idea seriously take it VERY seriously...and have all kinds of arguments and "evidence" at their disposal.
You, on the other hand, will simply stammer, "Oh, come ON!"
They will then challenge you to rebut their claims: "If you've got evidence that the September 10, 2001 email between David Geffen and Dave Thomas was a forgery--the email that authorized payment to the 19 hijackers--let's have it."
And you know what? You'll have no rebuttal...
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