Understand This: Birtherism Helps Obama

Got that?

Think about it.

Who are the majority of birthers? Are they people who would've voted for Obama? Sure, you can point to a few outliers who might have supported him that got converted to the birther cause, but by and larger the people who think Obama was not born in the U.S. are people who would never vote for him in a thousand years. Whether this is due to his politics, his party or his color is completely and utterly irrelevant. Obama is not losing any significant support due to the birther issue.

On the other hand, the incredibly vocal, never-satisfied irrational birthers who center on his alleged foreign birth manage to paint Obama's critics in a very bad light.

Birthers are seen by non-birthers as:

1) Incapable of attacking Obama on real issues:
Let's face it, while his policies may not be your cup of tea (I'm not a fan, myself), their actual impact has been minimal, especially in light of the eight years of crazy that preceded it. If the best a person can come up with is "Where's the birth certificate?" that person loses credibility. Just imagine how much better Trump would look if his key issue was that he felt that Obama's tax policy was off base. Heck, he'd be better off trying to pitch Forbes' old flat-tax platform.

2) Racist:
I know it's cheap but I am not "playing the race card" here. The simple fact is that when you obsess that the black guy may have been born in Kenya, you sound more hung up on his race than anything else. Now I know that the issue here is the Constitutionality of his presidency, but when you keep talking about him being from Kenya, it sounds racist.

3) Unemployed:
For the love of the gods, if I hear one more person say that you "Need to provide a birth certificate to get any other job." I'm going to puke. I have held 26 different jobs in my life from fast food to work as a government contractor to work for a Republican polling organization; I have NEVER needed to provide a friggin' birth certificate. Cut that nonsense out, it makes you sound like employment is a mysterious concept about which you can only speculate.

Sure, Number 3 is a bit of a joke/pet peeve of mine, but the first two items are true. By painting a large component of Obama critics in such a ridiculous light, you actual discredit oppposition to his policies. I've said before that the whole reason why he was not releasing the certificate is because birtherism helps him. It turns off moderates and rational independents. It makes the right-wing in this country look just a little bit crazier and STIFLES SERIOUS DEBATE about Obama's policies.

Besides, let's pretend for a moment that Obama is proven to be a Kenyan/Indonesian dual citizen and is impeached? Then what? President Biden? What changes? How do things improve? If all his executive orders and bills signed into law become invalidated, so what? The last two years of government operation of nullified (except for the hundreds of soldiers killed in the ongoing wars of choice who are never coming back) and congress (that brilliant group of people who are so much better than Obama?) get to start from scratch?

Somehow I'm not impressed by such a prospect.

Understand this: Birtherism threads are annoying, there have been about 100 of them already, and that's just for just today. Just let it die.

I have to say, I am usually the first person to jump on the crazy train. When the kids in my third-grade class were reading about Jimmy going to the ballpark, I was reading about UFOs, the Loch Ness Monster, ghosts, etc. I absolutely believe some things that people think are nuts, UFOs being ETs is one thing in particular, but all this birther nonsense is just even way to crazy for me. Now, I voted for the guy, and so far I haven't seen anything he has done that would cause him to lose my vote. And I think the OP is right. The more you blathering idiots continue to bring this stuff up, the more you will push away moderate voters who might have jumped ship. And now there are threads "proving" this certificate as a fake. The only other time I have been this ashamed to be an American was post Iraq war when we learned that everything Powell told the UN was a bold-faced lie. I know when to admit I was wrong about something, but it seems a large portion here on ATS, and in the public in general, don't.

Am I some type of rare human being, capable of scrutiny of multiple topics at the same time? Are the rest of you so bombarded by chemicals you can only muster the mental capacity to only discuss one topic?

Sorry OP, I'm pretty sure most of us are capable of multiple grievances with our government, the birther topic is just one of many, and doesn't hamper our disgust of other usurpations.

Questioning and scrutinizing our government is never in their interest, no matter what backwards logic you want to try and use to justify such a theory.

reply to post by RobertAntonWeishaupt


well said. from the beginning, I've had two major issues with the "birther" movement.

1) where's the proof?
lack of evidence does not in and of itself constitute evidence. just because he won't show the thing, doesn't mean "birthers" are correct. he is not obligated by law to show it, and just to appease critics wouldn't be a good enough reason for me personally to release my "papers."

2) why does it matter?
the process of eliminating his "illegal" influence on our government would be long, arduous, expensive and at the end of the day wouldn't even work. his influence, the overall "theme" of his administration, the ideas that he's been pushing, they're all out there already. even if certain things come off the books, Biden's there to put them right back on and Obama has plenty of allies who would still be in place after any impeachment took place.

when there's no proof, the whole thing would just be a massive headache and it really wouldn't change anything, it seems like a fool's pursuit to me.

reply to post by Rockdisjoint


You gotta admit, the delivery was better than this. Another post today with the same argument.

I guess since the birthers were dealt a hefty blow with the MSM picking up on the "We can confirm" stories over the last 72 hours, we can now expect a few of these birther spin off topics for a little while, until the issue finally dies.

Originally posted by Tephra
Am I some type of rare human being, capable of scrutiny of multiple topics at the same time? Are the rest of you so bombarded by chemicals you can only muster the mental capacity to only discuss one topic?

Sorry OP, I'm pretty sure most of us are capable of multiple grievances with our government, the birther topic is just one of many, and doesn't hamper our disgust of other usurpations.

Questioning and scrutinizing our government is never in their interest, no matter what backwards logic you want to try and use to justify such a theory.

Every resource (be it a moment of thought, a google search or an expensive legal action) dedicated to this lunacy is a wasted opportunity to look at REAL issues plaguing our country. Sure you can call Obama a Kenyan while researching the impact of his Health Care Bill, but my point is that you hurt your credibility then you do.

Originally posted by Rockdisjoint
Understand this: Birtherism threads are annoying, there have been about 100 of them already, and that's just for just today. Just let it die.

Agreed! 100% Just trying to aid the topic's demise. A futile endeavour, I know. Just call me Don Quixote.

Originally posted by RobertAntonWeishaupt
Let's face it, while his policies may not be your cup of tea (I'm not a fan, myself), their actual impact has been minimal, especially in light of the eight years of crazy that preceded it.

Obama has done every crazy thing Bush has done, or extended everything Bush has done, and it has only been two years.

Other than that, I pretty much agree with your post.

Hense why I, as a social liberal, fully support Birtherism.

I love it...its simply wonderful...a gift from Thor.

Because the people pushing birtherism are basically making potholes in their own ship to moderate america

I don't even need to contribute to the insanity...its self perpetuating.



Keep on effin that chicken. -Jon Stewart

Originally posted by Tephra
Am I some type of rare human being, capable of scrutiny of multiple topics at the same time? Are the rest of you so bombarded by chemicals you can only muster the mental capacity to only discuss one topic?

Sorry OP, I'm pretty sure most of us are capable of multiple grievances with our government, the birther topic is just one of many, and doesn't hamper our disgust of other usurpations.

Questioning and scrutinizing our government is never in their interest, no matter what backwards logic you want to try and use to justify such a theory.

OP is not saying that focusing on the birth certificate hinders YOU personally from focusing on the real issues. he's saying that it is very easy for Obama to spin this to his advantage. without that "smoking gun" piece of evidence or testimony, it's very easy to make the "birther" movement look like something it's not. outsiders will see the movement as one motivated by race and hatred, not commitment to the constitution.

the burden of proof rests on the accuser, not the accused.

Originally posted by RicoMarston

Originally posted by Tephra
Am I some type of rare human being, capable of scrutiny of multiple topics at the same time? Are the rest of you so bombarded by chemicals you can only muster the mental capacity to only discuss one topic?

Sorry OP, I'm pretty sure most of us are capable of multiple grievances with our government, the birther topic is just one of many, and doesn't hamper our disgust of other usurpations.

Questioning and scrutinizing our government is never in their interest, no matter what backwards logic you want to try and use to justify such a theory.

OP is not saying that focusing on the birth certificate hinders YOU personally from focusing on the real issues. he's saying that it is very easy for Obama to spin this to his advantage. without that "smoking gun" piece of evidence or testimony, it's very easy to make the "birther" movement look like something it's not. outsiders will see the movement as one motivated by race and hatred, not commitment to the constitution.

the burden of proof rests on the accuser, not the accused.

I guess even most ATS members are still deluded to believing that presidents even mean anything, they are nothing. I see people blabbing on about elections, the right, the left.... It's their game, the whole system is rigged.

Obama is our current puppet because he was the prettiest puppet to the masses, and Biden was and is ready to play the same role. The next election will go according to their plan. The two choices provided will be rigged, the results will go according to plan, and they will continue down their set path.

Anyone spouting about birthers being lunatics, nuts, crazies are just repeating the same brainwashed scum they learned from the media. Questioning the "facts" we're presented with does not make anyone crazy, it makes you a free mind.

Do you really think the media is going to ever report on any real politics, real grievances of the people? NO.

Oh and, burden of proof rests on the people? Sorry they won't let us acquire said proof, they made it illegal. Take him to court? Sorry, we don't have standing, our cases lack merit. Please.

In his rant about birthers, the OP seems to more concerned about the prospect of Biden as president than he is in defending the Constitution and upholding the law.

But then that about sums up so many Americans today

Another thing about this birther deal is how the minority community will perceive a rich white guy (Trump) questioning a black guy on his citizenship. In fact this is the ONLY thing that will hold to their attention even with all the high gas prices, undeclared wars, tax exemptions fro favored corporations....

And if the birther issue isn't bad this time, wait until a Latino runs for President, that will be a riot.

reply to post by Tephra


so... if the media always lies, which is exactly where the birth certificate issue comes from, and there's nothing we can do and the president doesn't even matter....then why can't we just let the issue go? i never stated that Obama was or was not born here, i stated that arguing about his place of birth like you have any evidence or facts to back it up is pointless. i don't give a rat's butt where he's from and i'm tired of talking about this politicized, money-making scam. either way; it does not matter.

The OP is making a great deal of sense. More so than some of the other threads I have seen on the subject. The longer this whole thing drags out the better it will be for the man in office. Seems like a no brainer but some people are trying to get political mileage out of being known as a dead horse beater.