I was at a social function last night (mostly old, Polish people) and I could not resist bringing up politics even though I promised my wife I would not. As I engaged the couple sitting next to me, I was taken aback by something I have not heard about before; “Did you know Obama was not born in the U.S.”, implying that he is not qualified by birth and citizenship to be president.
I said, where did you hear about this and she promptly said, on the Internet. I said don’t you know better than to believe all that bullshit on the Internet generated by McCain supporters (I have never see like material from the Obama side – ever)? She looked at me in confusion as if to say, it was on the Internet, it has to be true.
I was surprised to read in this morning’s paper “ARE THEY U.S. CITIZENS? HERE ARE THE FACTS”. To me this means that the Internet bullshit is having its desired effect; it is placing doubt in minds that easily accept bullshit no matter how outrageous.
The column in the newspaper ended with “SOME LOGIC:” which basically asked the question, if this was suspected, wouldn’t they have raised this issue before and not with one week to go in the election – dumb ass!
You can go online to: factcheck.org if you have any doubts about any thing.
Obama was born in Hawaii in 1961. Hawaii became a state in 1959. Obama is a natural born citizen.
McCain was born in the Panama Canal Zone in 1936. The Canal Zone was a U.S. Territory from 1903 – 1979. He was born to two U.S. citizens in a U.S. Territory therefore he is equivalent to being born in the U.S. according to the Constitution.
I think people, like the couple I talked to, grasp at these nonsensical straws because they don’t want to admit that they are racially biased and cannot vote for a black man period. As I mentioned, these people are older and I guess you cannot expect some of them to change or even become progressive with age; too bad.
I said, where did you hear about this and she promptly said, on the Internet. I said don’t you know better than to believe all that bullshit on the Internet generated by McCain supporters (I have never see like material from the Obama side – ever)? She looked at me in confusion as if to say, it was on the Internet, it has to be true.
I was surprised to read in this morning’s paper “ARE THEY U.S. CITIZENS? HERE ARE THE FACTS”. To me this means that the Internet bullshit is having its desired effect; it is placing doubt in minds that easily accept bullshit no matter how outrageous.
The column in the newspaper ended with “SOME LOGIC:” which basically asked the question, if this was suspected, wouldn’t they have raised this issue before and not with one week to go in the election – dumb ass!
You can go online to: factcheck.org if you have any doubts about any thing.
Obama was born in Hawaii in 1961. Hawaii became a state in 1959. Obama is a natural born citizen.
McCain was born in the Panama Canal Zone in 1936. The Canal Zone was a U.S. Territory from 1903 – 1979. He was born to two U.S. citizens in a U.S. Territory therefore he is equivalent to being born in the U.S. according to the Constitution.
I think people, like the couple I talked to, grasp at these nonsensical straws because they don’t want to admit that they are racially biased and cannot vote for a black man period. As I mentioned, these people are older and I guess you cannot expect some of them to change or even become progressive with age; too bad.
Janusz,
ReplyDeleteI have experienced the same concerning Obama, which will all pass once he becomes President. But, John McCain was born in the Canal Zone, yes, in 1936. At that time there was no provision for children of military parents,born outside the continental US, that stated that they were natural born US citizens. In actuality, a law was passed in 1937 concerning the issue. Technically, John McCain, born in 1936, is not a natural born citizen and thus should not even be allowed to run for President. The NY Times ran a long article on this issue, and because it is election time, they doubted that the Supreme Court would take up the issue. The US Constitution only deals with actaul States of the United States.
George