Majority of Georgia House demands proof of Obama’s citizenship
I would like to shake the hands of 21 Republican members of the Georgia House of Representatives and thank them personally. They have apparently shown wisdom and bravery by refusing to join an effort that is guaranteed to make this state a laughingstock. (It could also be that they just weren’t asked to join the cool kids’ club, I don’t know. But for the moment, I prefer to believe it was a conscious decision on their part.)
Unfortunately, the remaining 94 93 House Republicans (and one very lost Democrat) have lost their minds, backbone or both. They have signed on as co-sponsors to House Bill 401, a bill that purports to require that all candidates for U.S. president and vice president prove their citizenship before being allowed to appear on the Georgia ballot. And since the 94 co-sponsors comprise a clear majority of the 180-member House, the bill has a good chance of passing unless House leadership intervenes.
As the bill states:
The bill also makes it a crime for any Georgia presidential elector “to cast his or her electoral college vote for a candidate who is not approved by the Secretary of State as having submitted adequate evidence of eligibility. Any person who violates this Code section shall upon conviction be guilty of a misdemeanor of a high and aggravated nature.”
Ladies and gentlemen, this is just nuts.
UPDATE: The chief sponsor of the bill, state Rep. Mark Hatfield, says he’s not a birther, he’s a “constitutionalist.”
Baloney. Here’s what the 14th Amendment says:
“All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside. No State shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States….”
States do not have the power to decide who is and is not a citizen, born or naturalized. A true “constitutionalist” would know that.
– Jay Bookman
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689 comments Add your comment
Midori
March 1st, 2011
3:04 pm
*sigh*
teh stupid.
it burns.
Midori
March 1st, 2011
3:04 pm
ooo
FIRST!!!!!
TaxPayer
March 1st, 2011
3:06 pm
Republicans, in general (I’ll acknowledge that there are outliers in their midst), are just plain stoopid. There’s just no other explanation for them short of oxygen deprivation or worse.
bleary
March 1st, 2011
3:10 pm
The nuttiest part of the “birther” theory is that in 2008 Barack Obama ran for the Democratic nomination against Hillary Clinton and won. As Democratic nominee he ran in the general election against John McCain and won by a good margin. Neither Hillary Clinton nor John McCain thought there was enough evidence to even bother to bring the birther thing up. These “birthers” pretend to know more than those two hardened, experience politicians??
Guy Incognito
March 1st, 2011
3:12 pm
Easy to fix………….just show the Long Form.
The End!
BTW…………I think his LFBC says he was born here
Kamchak
March 1st, 2011
3:12 pm
Birthers, geez.
Del
March 1st, 2011
3:12 pm
It may be perceived that this bill is designed as a challenge to Obama’s place of birth. As a conservative I don’t doubt the presidents birthplace legitimacy, so removing him from the discourse, what’s wrong with this proposed bill?
Made in America
March 1st, 2011
3:13 pm
Is there some burden to complying?
And using bleary’s logic, since 15 presidents had not questioned slavery, Lincoln never should have either, right?
Normal
March 1st, 2011
3:15 pm
Does the Georgia House Chamber get enough air? They can’t all be that stupid, can they? Oh….My….Freakin’….Gawd!
Southern Comfort (aka The Man)
March 1st, 2011
3:15 pm
Pure Jackassery!!!
However, I don’t expect anything less from our state legislators. After all, this is the same legislative body that did the chip law…..
Doggone/GA
March 1st, 2011
3:16 pm
” what’s wrong with this proposed bill?”
Well apart from the absurdity, it relies on the CANDIDATES word for it.
BFD
March 1st, 2011
3:16 pm
He was born here as far as anyone knows. Do I think there is a chance he wasn’t? Not really.
Why shouldn’t it be a requirement though. According to the COTUS it is a requirement for the job. Every employer has a duty to make sure an employee is eligible. We are his employer.
Southern Comfort (aka The Man)
March 1st, 2011
3:16 pm
what’s wrong with this proposed bill?
Why all of a sudden is it necessary to produce the “long form” for anything? Did you have to produce your long form to enlist in the military, get a driver’s license, get a passport, vote, or anything else?
Doggone/GA
March 1st, 2011
3:19 pm
“He was born here as far as anyone knows.”
It doesn’t matter where he was born, his mother was a citizen…HE is a citizen. Maybe they should rewrite that law to force candidates to show their MOTHER’S birth certificate. I mean, after all, McCain was born in PANAMA and no one ever asked for HIS “long form”
jm
March 1st, 2011
3:19 pm
Sideshow.
Normal
March 1st, 2011
3:19 pm
Actually, this kind of BS might mean that they are really, really afraid that President Obama WILL be re-elected. So afraid that they will do anything to prevent it, even look really, really dumb.
Del
March 1st, 2011
3:20 pm
What’s so absurd about it? and is it true that it only relies on a candidates word that he or she was born in the United States, now if that is in fact true, I’d agree it was absurd.
jm
March 1st, 2011
3:20 pm
Koch bashers. Read here.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704288304576170974226083178.html?mod=WSJ_Opinion_LEADTop
Jay, ever get a chance to read that enlightening 266 page report?….
stands for decibels
March 1st, 2011
3:21 pm
McCain was born in PANAMA and no one ever asked for HIS “long form”
ew.
Bosch
March 1st, 2011
3:21 pm
Our legislatures are stupid — just plain stupid. This is a blatant attempt to keep Obama off the ballot in 2012.
Common Sense
March 1st, 2011
3:21 pm
To register for kindergarten in Georgia, one must provide a birth certificate with the raised seal.
Glad we hold 4 year olds to a higher standard than the presidency of the United States.
Southern Comfort (aka The Man)
March 1st, 2011
3:22 pm
Koch bashers. Read here.
Sounds like something you should do in the privacy of your own home.
Just sayin……
AngryRedMarsWoman
March 1st, 2011
3:22 pm
“Why all of a sudden is it necessary to produce the “long form” for anything?”
To show what an idiot I am…I didn’t know there were different forms and I thought they all contained the information set forth in the bill (not saying I support it). When I went for my passport I ordered a certified copy of my birth certificate from New York. They didn’t offer me a choice of forms – long or short. What I received contained all of the information that is in this bill. What information does a short form birth certificate contain and which states issue them?
jm
March 1st, 2011
3:22 pm
Boy, it will really suck if Obama turns out not to be born in the US. I give this a 0.01% chance. But I have no idea of the veracity, one way or the other. Nor do I particularly care at this point.
Meanwhile, our country continues to go down in flames….. tick tock
http://www.usdebtclock.org/
Doggone/GA
March 1st, 2011
3:22 pm
“What’s so absurd about it?”
Well, if you use our courtroom standard of “innocent until proven guilty” – it’s not up to the candidate to prove they ARE a citizen, it’s up to the doubter to prove he ISN’T a citizen.
jm
March 1st, 2011
3:22 pm
SoCo 3:22 –
I’m sure Sheen’s an expert.
Southern Comfort (aka The Man)
March 1st, 2011
3:22 pm
To register for kindergarten in Georgia, one must provide a birth certificate with the raised seal.
Does state law require it to be the long form? If not, there’s no higher standard.
stands for decibels
March 1st, 2011
3:23 pm
speaking of pandering to dumbasses, anyone want to defend Mike Huckabee, here?
http://mediamatters.org/blog/201103010018
During a radio appearance yesterday, Mike Huckabee repeatedly falsely claimed that President Obama grew up in Kenya. After questioning Obama’s purported secrecy about the birth certificate, radio host Steve Malzberg asked Huckabee if “we deserve to know more about this man.” Huckabee responded, “I would love to know more. What I know is troubling enough.”
Speaking on WOR’s The Steve Malzberg Show, Huckabee — a Fox News host and potential presidential candidate — said that “one thing that I do know is his having grown up in Kenya, his view of the Brits, for example, very different than the average American … his perspective as growing up in Kenya with a Kenyan father and grandfather, their view of the Mau Mau Revolution in Kenya is very different than ours because he probably grew up hearing that the British are a bunch of imperialists who persecuted his grandfather.”
Doggone/GA
March 1st, 2011
3:23 pm
“Glad we hold 4 year olds to a higher standard than the presidency of the United States”
Obama’s birth certificate HAS a “raised seal”
Common Sense
March 1st, 2011
3:23 pm
Doggone,
Is it up to the police officer to prove you don’t have a driver’s license?
Bosch
March 1st, 2011
3:24 pm
“The nuttiest part of the “birther” theory ”
Well, yes, bleary, that is one of the nuttiest parts, but there are just so many others — like if this crazy conspiracy were true, it would be like 50 years in the making and no one, not one person, spilled the beans on.
Kamchak
March 1st, 2011
3:24 pm
To register for kindergarten in Georgia, one must provide a birth certificate with the raised seal.
How does one raise a seal?
jm
March 1st, 2011
3:24 pm
Maybe they should put his birth certificate on display next to the Declaration of Independence. Temporarily of course….
jm
March 1st, 2011
3:25 pm
That birth certificate is probably the most valuable birth certificate in the country….
Doggone/GA
March 1st, 2011
3:25 pm
“Is it up to the police officer to prove you don’t have a driver’s license?”
A case could be made for that view. They tell you to show your license, they can’t force you to.
Normal
March 1st, 2011
3:25 pm
Article Two Section 1(5) of the Constitution already sets the parameters of presidential qualifications…this bill is to soothe the Georgia illiterate and bigot
jm
March 1st, 2011
3:25 pm
Wonder if Deal will sign it….. (and if it passes the Senate)
Southern Comfort (aka The Man)
March 1st, 2011
3:26 pm
jm
Hopefully in the privacy of his home or trailer…..
ARMW
Don’t feel bad. I didn’t know there was any difference either, until all the tom foolery came up over Obama’s. He could have been born on the moon. If his mother is a US citizen, then he’s one.
Del
March 1st, 2011
3:26 pm
“it’s up to the doubter to prove he ISN’T a citizen.”
Now that’s absurd.
What's the Problem?
March 1st, 2011
3:26 pm
There is not one Obama fan here who will offer even a hint of a rational explanation as to why he will not release the long form birth certificate.
But they will bash anyone who questions why.
Doggone/GA
March 1st, 2011
3:27 pm
“How does one raise a seal?”
It takes a LOT of fish!
Normal
March 1st, 2011
3:27 pm
How does one raise a seal?
Lots and lots of sardines and a big bath tub…
USMC dawg
March 1st, 2011
3:27 pm
Why didn’t Obama just show his Birth Certificate in the first place like everyone else does?
(the full birth certificate)
What was so hard about that?
stands for decibels
March 1st, 2011
3:27 pm
How does one raise a seal?
How about those who were raised BY SEALS? can they be Preznit?
Best get our hard-workin’ GA House on that one.
TrickleDownStupid
March 1st, 2011
3:27 pm
I’m wondering if I could get proof that these idiots are actually “earthlings”. I’m beginning to suspect they are from MARS.
jm
March 1st, 2011
3:28 pm
“How does one raise a seal?”
And regular outdoor exercise, plus some inflatable balls.
Peadawg
March 1st, 2011
3:28 pm
“bigot”
That didn’t take long…
Freedom from Insanity
March 1st, 2011
3:28 pm
The birth certificate with the raised seal is nothing more than a certified copy of the original and it is what has been provided by Obama in the past. It is the same thing you need for everything, so what the hell is the issue here. If you want to look up a copy of the Honolulu Star Bulletin and/or Honolulu Advertisor, his birth is announced in the paper and the Governor of Hawaii visited Kapiolani Maternity Hospital to see the baby and his mother. If this is a conspiricy, it is one of the most elaborte and well planned conspiricies in the history of our country. Let’s see, they would have had to decide at birth that he was going to be President, so they faked his birth in this country – yes Hawaii is in this country! Pretty clever!
Birthers, give it up and come out of your Mother’s basement and join the rest of the world in the light of day!
Doggone/GA
March 1st, 2011
3:29 pm
“There is not one Obama fan here who will offer even a hint of a rational explanation as to why he will not release the long form birth certificate”
rational? Yes, we have actually. Once again, with feeling: it DOESN’T MATTER where he was born. His mother was a US citizen, HE is a US citizen.
Bosch
March 1st, 2011
3:29 pm
“How does one raise a seal?”
I think they like sardines.