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| President Obama in kindergarten in Hawaii (Noelani Elementary School, Oahu) |
Title comes from a comment made over at Democrats for Progress.
So much for that idea of Huckabee's that Obama was raised in Kenya, or THIS moronic statement by Donald Trump:
“Let me tell you, I’m a really smart guy. I was a really good student at the best school in the country. The reason I have a little doubt, just a little, is because he grew up and nobody knew him,” Trump said in the interview that aired Thursday.
“If I got the nomination, if I decide to run, you may go back and interview people from my kindergarten. They'll remember me. Nobody comes forward. Nobody knows who he is until later in his life. It's very strange,” the Celebrity Apprentice host added. “The whole thing is very strange.”
Is absolute fealty to the Birther's and a demonstrable lack of a moral compass the ONLY hopes one has of gaining a spot on the 2012 list of Republican Presidential candidates?
It looks like all prospective GOP nominees have to appeal to the lowest common denominator within the base, as well as subscribe to their economic philosophy which has proven to be ruinous to this country. Furthermore, how does he make this absolutely asinine statement as to whether people remember their classmates from kindergarten, and what significance does he think it has? If he weren't wealthy and in the spotlight, how many Americans would know who HE is?
ReplyDeleteWhat a cute kid and such a winning smile.
ReplyDeleteThey demean themselves by looking stupid and continuing this garbage.
ReplyDeletePeople should demand that they talk about the problems that are facing us today, unemployment, gas prices, jobs, jobs, jobs.
They are just like palin, they can't discuss the issues, so they talk about nothing.
Damn, I considered Trump to be a viable candidate until he mentioned this birther nonsense.
ReplyDeleteHe just became irrelevant.
Has Trump -or anyone- tried to find out what kids in that class remember about him? How about what people remember about Bushes, McCain, the Clintons, Gore, Huckabee, Reagan, Carter? McCain might make the best comparison as he presumably moved a lot too during his childhood (son of a military family.)
ReplyDeleteFwiw, during the 08 DNC tv coverage, I saw a member of the Hawaiian contingent interviewed. She had been a classmate of Obama after he returned from living in Indonesia (high school, or middle school) and remembered him quite clearly.
Here's the thing I keep coming back to when I hear anything about the Birther theory...I truly believe that Obama was born in Hawaii - it's been proven over and over and over again. BUT, even if he wasn't born here, isn't that whole argument irrelevant since his mom was a U.S. citizen? Why doesn't any reporter ever throw that back in their faces??? Or, have the Birthers already said that SHE wasn't a U.S. citizen.
ReplyDeleteThe Huckster needs to cut back on the joy juice.
ReplyDeleteAfter years of following Donald Trump, I've decided he is delusional. He is the mouth for a successful company,but like Leona Helmsley (the Queen of Mean) probably has little to do with its success.
If it had not been for his family business, Donald would be a personable insurance salesman from Queens with an eye for the ladies.
That is a truly adorable picture. What a cutie!
ReplyDeletehe looks just like malia. what a sweet pic.
ReplyDelete5:12 AM,
ReplyDeleteDonald Trump was never a viable candidate.
@Kathy 5:29
ReplyDeleteI always wondered about that too. One contrived point that birthers use is that his mother was only 18 so she hadn't been a citizen of the US long enough to qualify under the law that was in effect at the time Obama was born. Go to snopes.com and search the words obama citizen and you can see all the ways they have tried to make an idiotic point valid.
To IBTS
ReplyDeleteIf, you considered "the DONALD" to be a viable candidate to vote for, you too are a"dumb twat"
Thank you for coming to your senses and now consider him irrelevant.
Is Trump REALLY smart? How many ex wives does he have? Marla Maples caught him with the oldest trick in the book - pregnancy. Now he has a wife who looks like an inflatable doll. Wasn't he recently rumored to be on the verge of bankruptcy? I thought he was doing that stupid Apprentice show for the money. Why would a self proclaimed "smart" person want to be involved with characters like the ones on his show? I think he NEEDS the money.
ReplyDelete@Kathy. The problem is that being a citizen by birth isn't enough to be President according to the Constitution. You have to be born in the USA. Which McCain wasn't, arguably, and that could be why the RNC let the Birther crowd run with this, so no one would challenge McCain on it. They delight in projecting.
ReplyDeleteThat is a very, very cute picture of Obama and his classmates!
Yeah, this whole thing has gotten dumb, considering there was that whole hullabaloo about how Barack Obama wrote an essay in kindergarten about how he wanted to be president of the US. Remember? Hilary used this as evidence that he was too ambitious?
ReplyDeleteOh, wait, I know. Barack Obama really WAS raised in Kenya only he used the obese American budget to hide away funds to create a time machine, which he then later uses to go back in time to plant this picture of himself and an announcement of his birth. THAT makes sense. THAT must be what all of this so-called evidence is!!!
PS I bet if you shared this theory on breitbart or the sea o' pee they'd eat it up and would eventually become a Fox news meme.
Kathy: The constitution says you not only have to be a US citizen to be president, but you have to have been BORN in the US.
ReplyDeleteBTW, who was not born in the US? John McCain. Born on a US military base isn't mentioned in the constitution. Yet very few people actually made a deal about it.
I've never heard a rational explanation of the birther story. (Which I know, is impossible.) It's unclear to me if they accept the fact that Ann Dunham IS Barack's mother. Because the whole thing is irrational. As was pointed out on the Daily Show, she was pregnant with BHO when she was in school. She was pregnant with BHO when she got married, which she did in Hawaii. The idea that an American woman would, in 1961, decide to travel to a third world country when she was six or seven months pregnant is beyond absurd.
This is why I get so annoyed when people compare birtherism to Trig truthism. I've said this once, I'll say it again: You show me the kind of evidence we have about Sarah faking a pregnancy that proves that BHO was born in Kenya, then we can talk about equivalency. We have pictures of a supposedly seven-month pregnant Sarah with a flat belly; show me a picture of Ann Dunham in Kenya, pregnant, and then we can talk.
6:05am Well said. Trump ain't nearly as smart or successful as he want us to think he is.
ReplyDeleteEach GOP candidate that blurps to the surface before sinking beneath the muck again is worse than the one before. And now we face the prospect of the selection process including such topics as "whose reality TV show is regarded with less embarrassment: SPA or The Apprentice?". And in Haiti they have a "bawdy cross-dressing music star" on the presidential ballot. At least OUR presidential candidates don't appear in DRAG!!
(Damn. I was just informed that Rudy Giuliani has appeared in drag... So we're no longer better than Haiti but we can proudly claim, I think, to now be no worse than Haiti....)
Regarding everyone remembering Trump, everyone remembers the asshole in class.
ReplyDeleteNow wouldn't he make a great president?!! I mean he is an accomplished bankruptcy artist, accomplished at sticking it to his investors. Could be a little risky sticking it to the Chinese, though.
You get a good idea of how insane these theories are when you read the wikipedia entry on the matter.
ReplyDeletePS (damn that Chester Arthur! We must repeal him now!!)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barack_Obama_citizenship_conspiracy_theories
What exactly does "natural-born" mean?
ReplyDeletePersons born citizens of the United States are considered natural-born. Therefore, a child born of illegal immigrants or born on U.S. soil yet lived his or her life out of the nation could still be President. A naturalized citizen could not.
http://library.thinkquest.org/11492/convention/requirements.html
Another reality star idiot pandering to the birthers joins the Republican presidential race. Wasn't Palin enough?
ReplyDeleteOn CSPAN Booknotes I heard a guy who has a new book about Obama's family in Africa.
ReplyDeleteHe explained why the Birthers' story makes no logistical sense. He said Barack Sr. wouldn't have taken Ann, even if she weren't pregnant, for a visit to his family because he did not want Ann to find out--she did not know--that he already had a wife and two kids in Kenya, meaning her marriage to him in Hawaii was not valid. The flight from Hawaii to Kenya would have been prohibitly expensive in 1961 for a couple of starving students and involved days of air travel because of stops and plane changes--not what a heavily pregnant woman would agree to even if she could afford it. And to get from the Obama home place in Kenya to the place where Birthers say he was born would be several days on a train to arrive on the other side of the country where there was NO commercial airport to return them to Hawaii, only a military facility which the Obamas couldn't use.
What I wonder is when do the Eisenhower/Ford/Bush Sr. Republicans become embarrassed enough to leave the current Republican Party.
Donald Trump may be smart (as in street-smart), but he is nowhere near intelligent.
ReplyDeleteKathy 5:29 et al.
ReplyDeleteOnly a "natural born citizen" is eligible to be president. "Natural born" means physically born on the soil of the US, its territories or outlying possessions, a US ship at sea, or to a diplomat posted abroad. So even if Pres. Obama had been born in Hawaii before it became a state (i.e. a territory of the US), he would be a natural born citizen. Similarly, the Panama Canal Zone (where John McCain was born), land leased to the US by Panama, would in my opinion be considered an "outlying possession of the US", making McCain natural born citizen also.
A person born abroad to a US citizen who has a residence in the US is a "naturalized" citizen by virtue of an act of Congress, is NOT natural born and is not eligible to be president.
Trump is a smart guy? No, Trump went through bankruptcy back in the 80s or thereabouts. He's flamboyant with a gift for promoting himself. I'm sure he did get good grades, but he says that as if it's hugely unusual... and we have a President who went through public schools and college and went to Harvard Law on scholarship... and became editor of the Review. THAT'S smarts.
ReplyDeleteBest retort I heard somewhere in tv world:
ReplyDelete"Of course they remember Trump from elementary school. He was the only kid with a comb-over in a $4000 suit!"
"The constitution says you not only have to be a US citizen to be president, but you have to have been BORN in the US."
ReplyDeleteNot quite true. The Constitution actually says:
Section 1 of Article Two of the United States Constitution sets forth the eligibility requirements for serving as President of the United States:
“ No person except a natural born Citizen, or a Citizen of the United States, at the time of the Adoption of this Constitution, shall be eligible to the Office of President; neither shall any Person be eligible to that Office who shall not have attained to the Age of thirty-five Years, and been fourteen Years a Resident within the United States."
The birthers have changed the definition of natural born to mean physically born in the U.S., which of course is nonsense. The definition of natural born means born as a U.S. citizen and not naturalized (as my husband was naturalized when his parents were, as immigrants). Of course, since Obama's mother was a U.S. citizen, he is, even if he weren't born in Hawaii... which he obviously was.
I wonder if these IDIOTS think that their daughters' little bastards are not U.S. citizens because their daughters aren't fourteen yet! It's amazing how many objections there are to having a black man as President. Racist assholes.
My understanding is that citizens born abroad to an American parent are generally considered "natural born."
ReplyDeleteSuch children have all the rights of those born on American soil.
There may be room for argument about what natural born means, and perhaps it should be better defined in a constitutional amendment. But until that happens, I think the burden of proof should be placed on those who want to further limit American citizenship.
He sure was a cute little boy and has grown into a very handsome man.
ReplyDeleteLot's of folks seem to remember him in Hawaii. He is still buddies with his high school friends and every time the family has gone to Hawaii they always make the hour drive up to the North Shore for a BBQ at the home of one of them.
ReplyDeleteJust more lies and fantasy from the Cons.
The birther nonsense aside for a moment...
ReplyDeleteA current Fox News/Republican meme is that President Obama "dithers" too much.
Sarah said so in India, as a matter of fact.
...and then she dithered around about running for president.
Just like The Donald.
And Huckabee. And Newt.
Dither dither dither.
Someone really should call them on it - the next time they accuse the President of dithering.
Donald trump as always been about donald trump and nothing else. He's making a mockery of the presidency. The only reason I'd want him to run is for the rosie vs trump entertainment hour cuz that shiz would be tight! Haha. What a douche. He uses people to stay relevant then moves on
ReplyDeleteCriticize repubs all you want but other countries would agree that its repub admins that work best for the world. Dems are damaging and ineffective. Look at how bill clinton royally fucked up education. (And yes I know bushs policies didn't fix but FL is a case in point that education is the hardest area to tackle. Fls system has been one of the worst for decades)
ReplyDeleteAside from that though, at least obama shows some promise in indirectly saying, I'm in way over my intellectual head, please help me
They will claim "photoshopping". Do not confuse these people by showing any proof against what they WANT to believe. Two of my children were born overseas at USAF base hospitals, and they are American citizens. An overseas base is considered US Territory, I was told. My daughter was born in London and had dual nationality until the age of 18. Strangely enough, she could not be included on my British passport, had to have her own at the age of 6 weeks.
ReplyDeleteDonald Trump has had as many affairs as Sarah and Todd. Yeah, it makes sense he'd get in the race and be a birther.
ReplyDeleteI had no opinion of Donald Trump before this year, just didn't care about him. Now I can't stand him. What a sleazy, manipulative asshole looking for an ego-stroke.
ReplyDeleteB@6:10, no, one is not required to be born in the USA to be POTUS. one must qualify as a "natural born citizen." Children born in foreign countries of US citizens qualify as natual born.
ReplyDeleteIf the Birthers put the same energy into demanding Trig's birth certificate as they do into Obama's, it would be the end of Sarah.
ReplyDeleteNo no, no!!! I am seeing some really BAD information here about the definition of natual-born, especially from Kimosabe.
ReplyDeleteA child born in the USA or on foreign soil to a US citizen, mom or dad, is a natural born citizen. Children of military/diplomatic service/people on vacation/people living abroad ALL qualify as natural born if they have one parent who is a US citizen. We have some of those in my immediate family.
I was born in a foreign country to foreign parents, one of whom became a US citizen after my birth. I was naturalized at the age of eleven. Had my parent already become a US citizen by the time I was born, I would qualify as natural born.
8:13, please don't try to pass your flaccid opinions as fact. You are in way over your head here.
ReplyDeleteTrump is annoying, arrogant and embarrassing. Even the republicans can do better than this. Palin is better than this. She is just as arrogant, annoying and embarrassing, but she does look a little better.
ReplyDelete@8:13 - Your inability to express cogent and discernible ideas eliminates you as a trustworthy barometer of international consensus on Democratic presidential leadership. You conflate international consensus and domestic education in a few brief lines. (?) Your own inability to coherently express yourself indicates you are a tea party ideologue. Keep shilling for the Kochs, tea bagger! Here in real middle America, we're on to you. Game over.
ReplyDeleteI try not to be an idolizer about Obama. I know the man is human and has flaws.
ReplyDeleteBut honestly, when I see photos of him from his childhood, I have a hard time not seeing a halo. In any picture I have seen he appears composed of goodness and light, and it's difficult to not imagine that that boy is destined to the role he has today
OK, the photo has brought out the irrational in me, but I appreciated seeing it on this sunless Sunday.
I'd like to see some photos of "the Billster" as a lad and I bet his early friends (if he had any) would have some interesting recollections of him.
My brother and I were both born in the same US hospital overseas. He is a natural-born citizen and I became a naturalized citizen.
ReplyDeleteWhy?
Because our father had not yet completed his residency requirements to be a naturalized citizen at the time of my birth.
The key was not the US installation where we were both born. It was the fact that one of us was born to a US citizen.
Naturalization is a process, not a designation. I had to go before a court and take the oath.
To the mother who thought it was odd that her US citizen child was not allowed to travel under her passport: I suspect US citizens, regardless the age, travel under their own US passport.
ReplyDeleteWhat I remember about Trump's past is from the 1970s in New York, when he regularly made the Village Voice's "10 Worst Landlords" list.
ReplyDeleteTo the poster at 8:13:
ReplyDeleteCare to cite your sources for that utter garbage you posted? I mean credible sources. Pulling it out of your a$$ doesn't count.
Anon 8:13
ReplyDeleteDid you really say what you said? You do know that George Bush would be arrested in about eight countries if he stepped foot on their soil, right?
I think you mean republican administrations work well with human rights violating countries because they give right wing dictators cover, destroy indigenous populations and let corporations do whatever they please.
And oh yeah--let's get us a dumb ass good ole boy like 'cause they sure know sumpin' about being president. What with getting us in two wars, destroying the economy and stepping on rights. . . .
Yep, them smart ones who have enacted more legislation for the good of the American people than any sitting president in fifty years are know nothings.
There, I fixed that for ya.
Don't bad mouth Trump. Do you want Jeb of the Bush crime family instead?
ReplyDeleteQuiz:
Why don't any of Sarah's college professors remember Sarah?
A: They probably do remember her, but since she "worked" her way through through college, they don't want to admit it and risk losing their jobs.
Does anyone have a better theory?
The only reason why McCaine (sic) was eligible to run for president was because he was allegedly born on a military base in Panama. Having 2 U.S. citizens as parents is not sufficient. That's why we want to see Sarah's born in Canada birth certificate. Chuckie shouldn't have tried to save a few bucks by driving to Canada!
ReplyDeleteLove that spiffy button down and confident smile. The Obamas are a warm and genuine family in spite of the adversity they face in this country. I could care less where the man was born.
ReplyDeleteI'm not adverse to the idea of successful business men becoming president but Trump? I mean on a personal level the guy is very immature. He's a salesman not a statesman.
With 2012 getting closer, get ready for this propaganda and smear movement to crank itself up to maximum negative intensity. The neoCON attack and destroy machine, (which birther bee ess is a part) will have all of its minions out hurling anything and everything in its power to defeat Obama.
ReplyDeleteThe "Donald", who is basically a wealthy joke, is using this to gain media attention. As sad as it is, smear/lies/propaganda is the name of the game these days in politics. Remaining committed to the truth is one of the greatest weapons available against this onslaught of poisoned politics.
Blogs are very effective, as an example, the anti-Palin blogs have performed great public service in telling the truth about her and exposing her for the farce and hypocrite that she is. Perhaps numerous anti-birther blogs could help neutralize this birther bull conspiracy that will not go away.
Darling picture of Obama as a child. Thanks for posting!
My spouse has a high level academic career. He was raised by parents who had been foster children and were still troubled throughout much of his childhood. They moved around a lot and the family was not at all "connected." Not even in the meanest sense of the word. I doubt anyone from kindergarten would remember him.
ReplyDeleteDonald Trump is an ass.
The only person I remember from kindergarten is Kathy Freeman, because I had a crush on her and threw up in her lap. Come to think of it, she probly remembers me too.
ReplyDeleteOne of the things that is so fun about the Birthers and the Repomorons is that they don't realize that by saying things like this that they make themselves look stewpid and inept.
ReplyDeleteThe Repothugs have had at least since 1997 to investigate Obama, and they either are totally inept or they have found jack S.
So their fall back position is to look inept and stewpid and blame their ineptness and stewpidity on Obama.
Which of course makes them look even more I and S.
Why don't any of Sarah's college professors remember Sarah?
ReplyDeleteA: They probably do remember her, but since she "worked" her way through through college, they don't want to admit it and risk losing their jobs.
Does anyone have a better theory?
***
yes, she only stayed at each school for a few weeks and possibly one course. Most likely she does not own a degree of any sort.
I can not name one person from kindergarten. I do, however, remember the name of my teacher...Mrs. Giraffe (really Mrs. Girard).
ReplyDeleteThe birthers say Ann Dunham was not old enough to confer her citizenship to Barack. Whenever anyone answers one of their BS theories about why Obama is not a natural born citizen, they move the goalposts to something else. There are many myths they've created that are really intended to smear the President and his family.
ReplyDeleteBirthers have filed more than 70, yes 70, lawsuits in various courts around the country and have lost every one.
For all the mythology of birthism, mostly debunked, visit THE birther debunker site:
www.thefogbow.com
@8:13 Yes foriegn countries do better under republicans because they outsource all American Jobs to Foriegn countries.
ReplyDeleteThat's what the Host meant when he said 'India tend to do better under Republican Presidents.
Look whenever a Democratic President is in control they tend to like to keep American Jobs in America; I know cause my country suffered under Bill Clinton!
When Repubs are in control,they tend to provide tax breaks and all round make it easier for companies to ship Jobs overseas.
Remember the sexy spy and her accomplices, they were studying the American governing system for Russia, I guess they wanted to infiltrate the system and destroy America. I think many Repubs are Russian spies, because they damage America on their behalf.
Remember when the American Chamber of Commerce wrote to Iran saying they disagreed with the President Sanction, how treasonous was this!
These people worship the dollar and the corporations, they care little about American interests!
Hilarious sarcastic comment from source site: "That's a short form pic, not a long form. Doesn't count."
ReplyDelete