Ed Brayton is a journalist, commentator and speaker. He is the co-founder and president of 
Dave Weigel, my Center for Independent Media colleague, has an article at the Washington Independent about the latest idiocy from Orly Taitz, the endlessly ridiculous leader of the birthers. It's a fake Kenyan birth certificate. Naturally, it's the Worldnutdaily credulously publishing about it and calling it real:
The new document released by Taitz bears none of the obvious traits of a hoax.
Really? None of the obvious traits of a hoax? Take it away, Mr. Weigel:
The most obvious problems:- It records Barack Obama Sr's age as "26." Obama Sr was born in 1936; his son was born in 1961.
- Its publication date is February 17, 1964, but it purports be a document of the "Republic of Kenya." Kenya did not become a Republic until December 12, 1964, a year after it won independence from Great Britain.
- It's signed by "registrar E.F. Lavender." Earth Friendly Lavender is a kind of detergent, and government officials who use vanity initials on official documents are, to put it mildly, rare.
- The kicker? The image is part of the extremely ill-informed conspiracy theory that Obama was born in Mombasa--conveniently, one of the more Muslim parts of the country.
This has always been a red flag for conspiracy theorists, so it deserves some explanation. Barack Obama Sr. was born and educated in Nyanza Province, in southwestern Kenya, on Lake Victoria. This is the area where Obama's family lived and continues to live; Sarah Obama, the step-grandmother of the president, lives in Nyang'oma Kogelo, a small town in the province. But Mombasa is a city on the Indian Ocean, a thousand miles to the east. It didn't even have an international airport until 1979. And the city wasn't even part of Kenya when the future president was born. Mombasa was a part of Zanzibar until December 12, 1963, when it became part of the newly independent Kenya.
The new forgery? Why, it claims that the president was born in Coast General Hospital in Mombasa.
- As some FreeRepublic posters have pointed out, the document contains a number that's either a humorous coincidence or a wink by the forger. It's number 47,044. Barack Obama, 47 years old, is the 44th president of the United States.
It's not quite as obvious as the forgery that Philip Berg fell for when he submitted a birth certificate in his first lawsuit that was signed by Dudley Do-Right, but it's still amusing.
Update: Dave now thinks he's found the source of the forgery. He is going to be a guest on my radio show Thursday evening to talk about the birthers.
Politics
Comments
What would happen to an everyday lawyer in Anytown USA who filed fraudulent documents in a lawsuit and kept endlessly re-filing cases that were to all intents and purposes the ame as cases that had been summarily dismissed? Wouldn't they be sanctioned, fined and dis-barred (assuming Taitz has actually been barred in the first place)? The cases are moot anyway since the election is over, Congress certified the results and Obama took the oth of office (twice).
Where are the balls on these judges and on the US legal system? Stop this insanity!
Posted by: JusticeLeague | August 4, 2009 9:49 AM
Given that Bill O'Leilly is not a birfer and believes this reveals unflattering attributes of the current conservative movement, it's always interesting to see how he frames these stories when forced to report on them. Here are two:
1) While reporting the birfer story is nonsense, the central point of the segment disparages liberals for trying to get Lou Dobbs fired from CNN.
2) Last night O'Leilly reported the story of birfers within the vein that truthers was a liberal meme (I have no idea whether truthers were disproporationately liberal or not). Therefore, his implied argument is that the GOP's fruitcakes equal the fruitcakes of the Democratic party.
The defect with his latter argument is the truthers gained no traction within the liberal movement, the Democratic party, or with the leaders of the Democratic party. Birfers however have substantial support within the GOP, 28% are birfers while an additional 30% aren't sure / don't know, and members of the U.S. Congress are leveraging this meme and actually speaking to it in Congressional floor debates along with submitting legislative bills in support of the birfer agenda.
When Mr. O'Leilly goes after liberals he rarely, if ever, tries to balance his criticism of liberals with similar or worse behavior of conservatives. When forced to criticize his own conservative movement, he always looks to do so in a manner that somehow attempts to smear liberals.
Posted by: Michael Heath | August 4, 2009 9:52 AM
Re JusticeLeague
I is my understanding that Dr. Taitz has not passed the California bar examination (which is, supposedly the toughest in the nation, along with that of Massachusetts) and is thus not a member of the bar association. She received her "law degree" from an online diploma mill. Perhaps someone familiar with the laws in California can comment but it is my understanding that one must pass the bar examination in order to be licensed to practice law.
Posted by: SLC | August 4, 2009 9:56 AM
You libs can't see the truth right IN FRONT FOR YOUR EYES. Soon the media won't be able to cover this up any more. BO will be gone, adn Republicans will sweep you out in 2010. PRESIDENT PALIN IN 2012... OR SOONER?
Posted by: needlegar | August 4, 2009 10:02 AM
needlegar - *Yawn*. Nice try, but I've see better Poes. - DJ
Posted by: DingoJack | August 4, 2009 10:04 AM
I think the forged birth certificate was not actually meant as a hoax, but as a joke or parody, and birthers were just too dumb/angry to notice. I often wonder if Orly Taitz is also a parody and the whole thing is just a huge practical joke on the birthers. It's really hard to tell if she's serious; I guess that's Poe's Law in action.
Posted by: catgirl | August 4, 2009 10:04 AM
SLC-Well, if that's true, how is she allowed to file cases on others' behalf? Berg is a lawyer who once worked for the PA Attorney General. Regardless, can't judges sanction pro se plaontiffs if they submit fraudulent documents? I'm just amazed and appalled that these people are allowed to abuse the court system over and over. If is costs taxpayers even one penny, that's too much.
Posted by: JusticeLeague | August 4, 2009 10:05 AM
I understand it all started as an April Fool's joke. Proto-birfers, too stupid to figure it out, latched on and began to run. The longer birfers keep this alive the more idiotic they (& thr GOP) are looking.
Go birfers, go! - ;) DJ
______________
PS: Yes this current forgery appears to be a photoshopped South Australian birth certificate. Cue cluelss, humourless birfer interest/outrage.
Posted by: DingoJack | August 4, 2009 10:12 AM
Oooh look! Ed stirred up the morons.
Posted by: Dogbert | August 4, 2009 10:14 AM
needlegar: Orly Taitz is an anagram for 'TOITY ZARL." Now do you "UNDERSTAND."
Posted by: kehrsam | August 4, 2009 10:16 AM
catgirl @6:
At least some of the fraudulent copies that were created were done so for cash. I read where one was sold on eBay for $1000 in mid-2008. Whether Taitz paid money for hers, or another kook who gave it to her for political ends paid for it, is not something I know. Therefore it appears that one motivation to create these documents was to merely exploit the delusions of the birfers for financial gain.
Posted by: Michael Heath | August 4, 2009 10:22 AM
The case in question is filed in Florida, the Stefan "I unvolunteer for combat because the president is different" case. Legally the thing is a joke.
Seems that the case is damaged somewhat by the fact that the government has withdrawn its orders (which Cook requested in the first place). Not sure of the legalities here, but 'moot' makes sense to a non-lawyer.
As I understand it, Taitz has submitted the document to the court for some kind of admission process, based on declaring it genuine. The fact that she's produced it, and clearly claims that it aids her case, seems to make her vulnerable to some sort of countercharge. But I doubt it, because no doubt she's insulated by submitting it to the court for verification. Plus it's clear she's not influenced much by what people think of her. My political sense is that we should encourage her, with a straight face, to keep on keepin' on with this Noble Crusade. Aside from the hilarity, it is seriously fragmenting the far side of the far far right. Those folks will never stop being sure that Obama is, you know, Black. Write their paranoid thrashings off as the cost of change, and keep pinging away at the Republicans who are worthy of respect.
Some day soon a moderate movement will break away from Rush and Beck and the Birthers; the result will be a political catastrophe for the Republicans, but a necessary one for the nation. I for one encourage them to get on with it, because we need them to be a whole nation, but not until they kick their habit of relying on a base that firmly believes that ignorance and anger are uplifting family values.
I made another birth certificate, but my timing sucked and I got out-hoaxed. Timing.
http://storyarc.squarespace.com/vault-copy-obama-long-form-bir/
Ice
Posted by: ice9 | August 4, 2009 10:23 AM
Re JusticeLeague
I stand corrected. Dr. Taitz is a member of the California Bar Association. Therefore, the question is, why hasn't the California Bar Association taken action against her for filing frivolous law suits?
http://members.calbar.ca.gov/search/member_search.aspx?ms=taitz
Posted by: SLC | August 4, 2009 10:35 AM
Michael Heath -- on the point of birthers vs truthers, check out Nate Silver's post about that very topic on fivethirtyeight.com:
http://www.fivethirtyeight.com/2009/08/difference-between-birthers-and.html
Posted by: Umlud | August 4, 2009 10:40 AM
Kehrsam - No, no you've got it all wrong.
Orly Taitz = TOTALY ZIRY! Therefore....
"IT'S A COOKBOOK!!" - :) DJ
Posted by: DingoJack | August 4, 2009 10:41 AM
From the start, I wondered if Orly Taitz was a fake name, since "O rly" is short for "Oh, really?"
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/O_RLY%3F
Also, why is a Soviet-born dentist/lawyer the one leading the charge on this one? Does she feel that she is being discriminated against because of her birthplace?
Posted by: John | August 4, 2009 10:44 AM
I agree with the idea that the fake birth certificate was done, not by the birfers, but by someone punking them...to show just how stupid they truly are.
Posted by: TMW | August 4, 2009 10:58 AM
"BO"
The childishness of this rabid nut-case opposition is so sad. All these worthless pea-brains once hid away from us. Now, the internet has released their inner stupidity so we can constantly be barraged with their obscenities, with their inanities, with their simplistic reductionist pointlessness.
Oh, and such as Rush and Fox News and the Xenophobe on CNN, give these clowns "pub."
It is racism. They might have gone gaga over McCain's Panama birth, but I doubt it. Professor Gaates now gets death threats. Expecting logic and sanity from racists is also pointless. They are now being empowered and let's hope we outlast them.
They are anachronistic irrelevancies being propped up by the corporate controlled media's right wing side. The Democratic Party as it stands now could supply an opposition party. The Blue Dogs would be perfect. Instead of this Republican combination of old-style Dixiecrats mixed with Brown Shirt, torch-bearing, lemming followers.
Posted by: fred fep | August 4, 2009 11:01 AM
But that's not his Birth Certificate, that's his Certified Copy of Registration of Birth. I want to see his long form Kenyan Birth Certificate ;)
Posted by: Jonathan | August 4, 2009 11:17 AM
SLC-Come on CA Bar (or PA in Berg's case) these crooks are a disgrace to the profession (and that's saying something). Frivolous lawsuirs based on fraudulent documents. What does it take before you actually sanction these morons?
Posted by: JusticeLeague | August 4, 2009 11:56 AM
Wasn't Nixon a member of the Californian Bar Association? 'Nuff said. :) - DJ
Posted by: DingoJack | August 4, 2009 11:59 AM
My wife identified it as an Israeli name before I even said who she was ("There's this crazy lady called Orly Taitz.. yeah, here name is 'Orly', spelled like 'O RLY?'" "Well, that's an Israeli name.") So there ya go.
However, that does not mean I will not chose to mock it. I post links to the O RLY? bird every chance I get :D
By the way, I'm sure Ed will link to it eventually, but the below interview with O Rly Taitz on MSNBC is... well, words fail. About halfway through, the laughs from the production crew start to become audible. So that tells you something about it...
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21134540/vp/32274609#32274609
Posted by: James Sweet | August 4, 2009 12:03 PM
DJ & Kehrsam -
ORLY TAITZ = ROYAL TITZ. 'nuff said.
Posted by: Pineyman | August 4, 2009 12:04 PM
And Pineyman swings...
He connects ! It's up.. up.. up.. and outta the Stadium!
That, ladies and gentlemen is a home run! - DJ
Posted by: DingoJack | August 4, 2009 12:08 PM
In my opinion the Republican Party has been taken over the most extreme religious right (people who love to push their beliefs on others while trying to take away their rights) and that’s who they need to focus on if they real want to win. Good Luck, because as they said in WACO, “We Ain’t Coming Out”.
In the same vein, to all the birthers in La, La Land, it is on you to prove to all of us that your assertion is true, if there are people who were there and support your position then show us the video (everyone has a price), either put up or frankly shut-up. I heard Orly Taitz, is selling a tape (I think it’s called “Money, Lies and Video tape”). She is from Orange County, CA, now I know what the mean when they say “behind the Orange Curtain”, when they talk about Orange County, the captial of Conspiracy Theories. You know Obama has a passport, he travel abroad before he was a Senator, but I guess he fooled them too?
Posted by: Paul | August 4, 2009 12:38 PM
Therefore it appears that one motivation to create these documents was to merely exploit the delusions of the birfers for financial gain.
Some Republican wingnuts actually BRAGGED of having fanned out all over Kenya and paid good money for this sort of "information" -- totally oblivious to the real problems that professional spies and spymasters have with paid-for information throughout history. Once you start flashing the cash, informants will pop out of the woodwork to give you what your questions indicate you want, in as much detail as you keep paying for. Whether any of it is true, is another question.
ORLY TAITZ = ROYAL TITZ. 'nuff said.
Not so fast, buddy, we'll need to see some proof of that. The long form, of course...
Posted by: Raging Bee | August 4, 2009 12:39 PM
Of course its a fake. It says Barack Hussein Obama is his Christian name, when we all know its really very muesli.
Posted by: joz | August 4, 2009 12:48 PM
The Birthers claim Obama was born at Queens hospital, Mombasa, Kenya, the fake Kenyan BC lists it as Coast General Hospital, Mombasa, Kenya. The fraud is either sloppy or done as a joke. WND bought in to it for the same reason that anyone buys into anything dubious: it's credible & it fits their existing views perfectly.
My understanding is that someone must formally bring a complaint against Taitz to get her disbarred, and complaints in progress are not a matter of public record, so far as I can tell. The Bar Association won't stop her on its own.
#2-Truthers are primarily antigovernment and conspiracy nuts. They don't necessarily have political views, and among Truthers with political views, they're not all liberal. Not even close.
Posted by: Matt | August 4, 2009 12:48 PM
Posted by: Matt - To further your point, see article linked by Umlud at #14 - DJ
Posted by: DingoJack | August 4, 2009 12:54 PM
Umlud @ 14 - Re 538's synopsis on truthers and birthers. I don't trust anything out of Rasmussen. They frame their questions in a manner to promote a conservative agenda rather than elicit a statistically significant and accurate understanding. I'd also bet money they also create their set of survey subjects in a manner that is not representative of the population they're surveying but instead helps derive a desired result. We saw both in play after last year's election where they claimed Obama voters were far less-informed than McCain voters. In this case I'm not sure how to distinguish the 8/4/01 security brief Bush got with the event of 9/11, I'm sure that was by design.
James Sweet @22 - Thanks for the link.
Schuster and especially his co-host did a terrible job of fisking Taitz on the merits. Interviews like this feed the conspiracy, not discredit it; another example of intellectual laziness by the media.
Just because Ann Coulter disagrees with you does not make a valid rebuttal, it's totally irrelevant. Why waste precious minutes on an irrelevant issue? If they're going to have Taitz on your show, the hosts should have kept her focused on arguing for evidence that Obama was either born outside the U.S. or failed to meet 'natural born' requirements (Taitz falsely stated 'natural born' requires two citizen parents).
Taitz actually presented an interesting argument I hadn't previously heard though she provided no evidence this happened with Obama. She argued that one parent could merely go to the Health Dept. and claim your baby was born in that state and get a birth certificate.
Posted by: Michael Heath | August 4, 2009 12:58 PM
I knowingly know one troofer. He was a Republican,
but after 9/11 he wasn't so sure.
Posted by: william e emba | August 4, 2009 12:59 PM
This has already happened. Many Republicans have switched over to Democrats, with the effect of making the Democratic party more conservative. This has left just a few screaming idiots left in the Republican party.
Posted by: catgirl | August 4, 2009 1:02 PM
How about "O ratty Liz?"
Micheal Heath - birfers tried that one out early; it didn't fly so they dropped it like a stone (naturally).
It turns out: a) It ain't true, b) Even if it were true, the birth certificate would indicate the actual place of the birth, and c) There is a plethora of evidence it didn't happen in this case. - DJ
Posted by: DingoJack | August 4, 2009 1:08 PM
It's no surprise that Hillary Clinton is in Kenya today to reinforce the cover-up.
I don't trust ANY politician and almost no one in the media. I still want answers. Obummer, put up or get out!!!! All he has to do is make the following official public statement,
"I Barack Obama authorize the State of Hawaii to release and make public all of my records on file."
That's it. Issue over. But he won't because he's a fraud!! Obama knows that millions of citizens want to see it yet he continues to hide it. What/why is he hiding? and most disturbingly, why don't BHO's supporters want to know the whole truth, especially since there's a reward of $100,000 for proof that Obama is a "natural born" citizen of the United States.
OBAMA, STOP HIDING. SHOW US THE LONG FORM BIRTH CERTIFICATE AND YOUR OTHER RECORDS!!!!!
Posted by: Captain Steve | August 4, 2009 1:31 PM
They're out of power now and they were always out of brains. Combine the two and, Viola!, nucular (sic) meltdown.
Posted by: Buffy | August 4, 2009 1:32 PM
All he has to do is make the following official public statement...
All YOU have to do is show probable cause for the DoJ can get a subpoena. No probable cause? No case. End of story.
Yo, salon.com has a clip of Orly losing it on MSNBC. It wasn't all that coherent, but I think I heard Orly saying her critics didn't understand 'cause they weren't from Israel; and then threatening to end the careers of her hosts. All of which reminds me that Israel has a loony radical right of their own, and they probably hate Obama at least as much as our loony radical right. Is it possible that longtime rightwinger Netenyahu is teaming up with Israel's radical-neocon supporters in the US on this?
Posted by: Raging Bee | August 4, 2009 1:42 PM
Captain... You do know that the Governor of Hawaii was the one who sealed the record after being examined by the US Justice Department who was at the time was run by Republicans? So if President Obama was not a real US Citizen, what does the Republican Party gain from helping evil Obama to ascend to the Presidency?
Oh and the current Governor of Hawaii is a Republican too.
Which then begs the ironic question...
Why do Republicans hate America more than President Obama?
Posted by: theroachman | August 4, 2009 1:56 PM
David Jeffery Bomford for President!!
Posted by: teammarty | August 4, 2009 1:59 PM
Captain Steve stated:
It's President Obama, not 'Obummer'. Please respect the office of the Presidency, he was duly elected by a significant majority of U.S. voters.
Captain Steve stated:
From a rational perspective, he has no reason to publish a copy of the original birth certificate which is no longer representative of the official record given Hawaii digitized its records in 2001. This issue is helping reveal the insanity of the Republican party. Thanks for feeding the flames.
From an ethical and practical perspective, that will in no way end it. Birfers have long claimed that the old hard-copy version is a fraud, now they claim to have the real ones, several of which are in the public square, none of them match, and all of which have been proven fraudulent. Given there is zero evidence to feed birther claims while we have overwhelming evidence all the promoters of this conspiracy are liars and frauds, what makes you think that one mere act would quell this? Evolution has overwhelming falsified creationism, yet the populist right still rejects science and evolution, they too are equally certain in creationism.
Captain Steve stated:
Please provide evidence of such, otherwise I'll just continue to assume you are just one more delusional racist whose irrational hatred feeds your insanity.
Posted by: Michael Heath | August 4, 2009 2:01 PM
It's President Obama, not 'Obummer'. Please respect the office of the Presidency, he was duly elected by a significant majority of U.S. voters.
Now now, Michael. You know that emotional seven-year-olds have a fear/loathing attitude towards authority figures they don't like. I speak anecdotally on this one (i.e. Principal "Bitch-mann").
Posted by: Sadie Morrison | August 4, 2009 2:16 PM
Holy shit @ that video James Sweet. The woman is clearly insane she thinks Ann Coulter is mainstream media.
Posted by: JohnV | August 4, 2009 2:24 PM
captain steve whargrbls "...there's a reward of $100,000 for proof that Obama is a "natural born" citizen of the United States."
except that the "reward" will never be given, since the rules disallow the use any of the valid (read that as legal) documents in the proof. it isn't based on moving the goalposts: it's based on not having any goalposts from the start.
Posted by: dean | August 4, 2009 2:39 PM
"That's it. Issue over."
That's what I've been trying to say here. The issue is over. Because there was an election, which was cerified by Congress. You could show the world a certified film of Obama being born in downtown Nairobi in front of 30,000 cheering Kenyans and that would change nothing. Because and let me say this in large letters so you get it:
THERE IS NO PROVISION TO REMOVE A SITTING PRESEIDENT OTHER THAN BY IMPEACHMENT FOR HIGH CRIMES AND MISDEMEANORS. THAT'S WHAT THE CONSTUITION SAYS.
And I'm sorry, but being born is neither a high crime nor a misdemeanor.
I do have a little good news for you. You can raise this again in 2012. But until then would you please take your owns words and accept that this is over and try to relax.
Posted by: JusticeLeague | August 4, 2009 2:50 PM
psst, Cap'n Steve, Obama probably isn't going to read that, even if every word is capitalized (maybe putting it all in bold would help, though). I hear somewhere that bold and capitalized text can be seen from space!!! But seriously, it would be nice if Obama read Ed's posts, he might learn something.
Posted by: Imrryr | August 4, 2009 3:05 PM
@myself - That should be "heard", not "hear". Argh...
Posted by: Imrryr | August 4, 2009 3:08 PM
Capt. Steve:
Why don't you take one of the mothership's intergalactice life boats and load up Needledick, whoops, I mean Needlegar and head on back to your home galaxy.
Orly Taitz = Rip Taylor's kid sister "Zit"?
Posted by: democommie | August 4, 2009 4:01 PM
There was a thread on conspiracy central (freerepublic.com) yesterday started by someone who had found a low-res image of the Taitz fake birth-certificate and idiotically claimed that because some of the letters in the low-res image looked different (e.g. E.F.Lavendar was originally k.F.Lavendar) that Taitz's site had been hacked and the real image replaced with one that was deliberately altered to look fake.
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2307402/posts
Thus ensued a debate which is now nearly 2,000 comments long arguing over what are essentially just JPEG artifact-related differences between two images of exact same document.
Of course, the much more obvious explanation (to them) was that Obama's computer gurus (from one of Axelrod's many astroturfing companies) had hacked Orly Taitz's web site within minutes of her posting the real image, photoshopped in some changes (like changing 47,644 to 47,O44) to make the document look like an obvious fake, and then uploaded to her site to replace the original and also planted a virus on the site for good measure.
In the same vein, when Bomford's document was spotted (about 1,000 comments in) the immediate conclusion of many was that it had been planted there by Obama's paid experts to further confuse the situation. That the Bomford went offline (owing to the massing surge in hits) only served to fuel their suspicions about the document, as did the fact that while the link to the document existed in the WayBack Machine, the image didn't!
At the same time, these idiots are priding themselves over how thorough their are being with these documents...
If I wasn't worried over the ability of wingnuts to drag the rest of the country down to their level I would be laughing at the utter inanity of it all.
Posted by: tacitus | August 4, 2009 4:02 PM
One thing about this forgery - even if it weren't a blatent forgery, it shows Obama as being the son of a woman born in the US and a man who resides in the US (and presumably therefore has US citizenship). Would that not make him a 'natuarl born' US citizen even if he WAS born in Kenya?
Posted by: Smidgy | August 4, 2009 4:30 PM
One thing the Birthers continuously claim is that Obama only has to show the original to settle the matter. Leaving aside that there is no reason to do that, I have to wonder if they actually believe what they are saying. That if he produced what they are asking for, they would just nod, accept it and forget about the whole matter. Evidence against the delusions is usually ignored by paranoid conspiracy nuts, I don't see why it would be any different in this case.
Posted by: G.Shelley | August 4, 2009 4:39 PM
G. Shelley - only a few birfers are asking for the original in order to satisfy their requests, most have already decided the Obama's defrauded the state of Hawaii because he was really born in Kenya. They do continue to demand it, but a certificate in good order will not change their mind, in fact to them it will only validate that the state of Hawaii was conned by Obama's parents. Captain Steve's just a little slow.
Posted by: Michael Heath | August 4, 2009 4:47 PM
...I have to wonder if they actually believe what they are saying.
No, they don't, and they never did. It's the same Republican smear tactic used against Clinton in the '90s: make a wild accusation, offer zero evidence of any sort, then blame the defendant for not dropping everything and either proving himself innocent, or apologizing, or (after they get the apology they claimed to want) resigning.
I remember the Republicans saying "If only the President would apologize, we could just move on." Then the President gave the most honest and explicit public apology I've ever heard from a politician. Then the Republicans IMMEDIATELY changed their tune to: "If only the President would resign, we could just move on."
They knew it was bullshit then, and they know it's bullshit now.
Posted by: Raging Bee | August 4, 2009 5:10 PM
Raging Bee - I respectfully disagree. I think they are deluded and mean what they say when they say it, the fact they change the goalposts to maintain their opposition is not so much evidence they were dishonest but instead evidence of their inability to adapt their thinking. Consistency is not a virtue in evidence on the Right.
Posted by: Michael Heath | August 4, 2009 5:42 PM
Raging Bee
As having a family member (by marriage) who is one of these birthers and have shown him the facts of all of these fakes. I can say with authority, yes they really do believe President Obama is of Kenyon birth and yes they really believe President Obama is part of some sort of evil Muslim plot to bring down the US.
When, as my relative knows, we don't need a crazy Muslim plot to destroy us, we seem to be doing it quite nicely with out their help.
Posted by: theroachman | August 4, 2009 6:00 PM
The birthers absolutely believe that Obama is not qualified to be president. They believe it so much that they are willing to bend reality beyond breaking point in order to validate their belief.
But I have no doubt that there are some people -- like Limbaugh -- who are merely going along for the ride because they are enjoying the fuss it's creating and cling to the hope that something could always crop up to prove the birthers were right after all.
People like Orly Taitz though, believe it all with every fiber of their being.
Posted by: tacitus | August 4, 2009 6:26 PM
Funny stuff, though the point about EF Lavender being washing up detergent seems bogus. Lavender may not be a very common surname, but I've met a couple. And as you see from the SA original, it was actually the guy's real name.
Posted by: Cath the Canberra Cook | August 4, 2009 7:55 PM
I've heard two arguments for why the forger used the name E.F. Lavender.
The first one to come out came from someone intuiting that 'Lavender' was used because it's a popular brand of detergent in Kenya - this seems to me to be a tenuous claim.
The other claim is that the original template, which comes from Australia and I read is a copy of an authentic birth certificate, includes the name G.F Lavender in that field. This seems a superior speculation.
Posted by: Michael Heath | August 4, 2009 8:19 PM
Nope, that guy was G. F. Lavender.
Posted by: Anton Mates | August 4, 2009 8:41 PM
The response of most of the GOP shows that they are not working in "good faith" with Obama and the Democrats. Using nonsense like this to justify their position and justify not working with Obama shows they are not working in good faith. They are not the "loyal opposition", they are the disloyal opposition. They are craven political hacks, willing to use lies and fraud to get what they want.
Posted by: daedalus2u | August 4, 2009 9:33 PM
FWIW, it looks like "Levender," not Lavender," on the original to me.
Posted by: D'oh! | August 4, 2009 10:05 PM
One term mayor of Newburyport, MA, Al Lavender, went to some pains not to pronounce it like the color. It did not save him.
Since I know that the few sane members of the GOP are quite happy to use the birfers controversey for their own ends, I just say fuck 'em all. I have not and will not ever vote for a reptilican until the GOP has once again become a party with at least a few principles.
Posted by: democommie | August 4, 2009 10:36 PM
Chuck Norris weighs in.
http://www.creators.com/opinion/chuck-norris/what-obama-and-my-wife-have-in-common.html
Posted by: JusticeLeague | August 4, 2009 10:39 PM
Can't you EVUL LIBRELS GET IT!
Obummann traveled in his time machine back in time, founded the free colony at Adelaide (South Australia) in the 1830's, whilst planting birth announcements, subverting every government official and authority figure (on the whole planet), and re-writing the US constitution (just for fun).
This meant, that some 180 years later when his Kenyan birth certificate was found (showing he was born before Kenya existed and outside his supposed country of birth) this SA forgery could be substituted to make the birfers look (even more) idiotic*.
IT'S ALL SO CLEAR. THE EVIDENCE IS OUT THERE!!! - :) DJ
_____
*If it's even possible
Posted by: DingoJack | August 4, 2009 11:15 PM
ORLY TAITZ...
ZITTY ORAL
TOTAL RIZY (short for risible)
O RATTY LIZ
What else...
Posted by: Azkyroth | August 5, 2009 12:58 AM
I wonder if the President is going get a surprise for his b'day:
Orly Taitz bursting out of giant cake and singing "Happy Birthday, Mr President" breathily, followed by the theme-song from "Greenacres"? :) - DJ
_____
PS: Is everyone sure she isn't a SNL character doing a Borat?
Posted by: DingoJack | August 5, 2009 4:14 AM
DingoJack:
I think she may be just the sort of person whom Sacha Baron Cohen uses as a template.
I think Victoria Jackson could do Orly's shtick, for sure. Problem is VJ is fucking goofy--in a way that Minnie Mouse never dreamed of.
Posted by: denocommie | August 5, 2009 7:44 AM
Chuck Norris, the pseudo voice of reason
Again we see the claim "all Obama needs to do to end this is to show the original." The more I see this, the more convinced I become that even if Obama for some reason decided to indulge the lunatics, it wouldn't be enough, they'd claim the CIA or some other organisation has had plenty of chance to tamper with the original records
Posted by: G.Shelley | August 5, 2009 9:03 AM
G. Shelley: I agree. When was the last time ANY conspiracy-buff actually accepted a document that disproved his theory, and thenceforth stopped complaining? It's never happened before, and it won't happen in the foreseeable future under any circumstances.
Posted by: Raging Bee | August 5, 2009 9:08 AM
The solution to this is plainly obvious. We have all heard of hypnotists who can take you back to your "birth experience". So we have one of them come and hypnotize the President-he can temporarily hand off power to Biden-and show it on C-SPAN. Once he's under the hypnotist can ask him what he sees. If he sees hula dancers and Don Ho, then the birthers can all just go home. On the other hand, if he sees lions and elephants, then we gotta wonder (unless he's looking at the Honolulu Zoo).
Posted by: JusticeLeague | August 5, 2009 9:30 AM
G. Shelly and Raging Bee - There is no need to speculate that they'd reject Obama's claim of a Hawaiian birth even after purviewing the unofficial hard-copy in archives or their justification for this predicted rejection (e.g, Shelly's CIA option). They've already started down that road with a far more rational conspiracy hypothesis than a CIA plot.
Birfers are now claiming that the parents of Obama instigated a fraud at the outset to get Barack naturalized by birth by defrauding the state of Hawaii that he was born in Hawaii but in fact was not. Their motivation was merely to gain him U.S. citizenship given his dad was not a citizen and his mother was not old enough to extend citizenship to Barack if he was born outside the U.S. under laws in force at that time. Therefore, they claim that the all Hawaiian records are probably in order as if Obama was born in Hawaii while they believe otherwise, e.g., he was born in Kenya.
So you are right that the primary perpetrators of the birfer conspiracy will not let go even if Hawaii presents all records in order, and they've already signaled why.
Posted by: Michael Heath | August 5, 2009 9:43 AM
Mates, I just meant the surname was the same. I'm merely remarking that Lavender isn't such a weird name that it requires explanation. There's hundreds of them in the phone book.
Posted by: Cath the Canberra Cook | August 5, 2009 9:47 AM
Wonder what Lou Dobbs will say now?
http://mediamatters.org/blog/200908050051
Posted by: dean | August 6, 2009 8:42 AM