If you can't beat 'em . . .

accuse them of not being a citizen.

Janet Porter, neocon fundagelist "columnist", has posted a new "column"! I got my 11/11 wish! (In retrospect, I should have wished for world peace. Well, hindsight and all that.)

Let's dissect, shall we?

The Constitution Still Matters. Call Alannis Morisette- this is irony! Bush and Dick have spent the last eight years shredding the constitution while Ms. Porter cheered them on, and now the constitution matters? Therefore do not fear them, 'For there is nothing covered that will not be revealed, and hidden that will not be known.'"
–Matthew 10:26 Random bible quote, taken out of context that seems relevant, but isn't. I'm going to start randomly quoting Gears of War 2 dialogue to make my points. "Dibs!"

Hold on. Just a minute. Not only was there no landslide and no mandate, there was no election. The Electoral College doesn't even vote until Dec. 15. And there's one thing that may stand in their way from affirming last Tuesday's popular vote: the Constitution Researching . . . *sigh* sort of technically true, but not so much. Basically, citizens of the US do not directly vote for President and Vice President. They cast their votes which determine who the electors vote for, and then the electors cast the official vote on the second Wednesday of December. However, electors are not free to vote for whomever they please. Faithless electors are members of the United States Electoral College who do not cast their electoral votes for the people they have pledged to vote for. 24 states have severe penalties for faithless electors. Note that Ms. Porter did admit that Obama won the popular vote. Bet that hurt!

For the electors to uphold the Constitution that they're sworn to do with their upcoming vote (bad grammar), they must first know for sure that the candidates meet the basic constitutional requirements for the office of president. He must be a natural-born citizen (true), at least 35 years old (true), and have at least 14 years of residency in these United States (true). That's not a lot to ask. Pretty basic, really.
And pretty easy. Either you are a natural born citizen or you aren't (true). Just deliver the original birth certificate and everyone can be on their way (true, but i couldn't deliver my original birth certificate to anyone. i lost it. do i not get to be president now?). That's just what Phillip J. Berg has asked the United States Supreme Court to do. And the Supreme Court has asked for a response from Barack Obama along with the Democratic National Committee and Federal Elections Commission. And they have until Dec. 1 to respond.

A little background on Philip (one "l") J. Berg, Esquire. He also filed a lawsuit against President Bush because "he allowed 9/11 to happen" and asked three Supreme Court Justices to disbar themselves due to their opinions in Bush v. Gore. Yeah, he's just the guy you want to base your opinions on. In 2005 he was fined and sanctioned $10,000 for having committed a "laundry list of unethical actions."
""Other attorneys should look to Mr. Berg's actions as a blueprint for what not to do when attempting to effectively and honorably perform the duties of the legal profession," Joyner wrote.
"This court has grown weary of Mr. Berg's continuous and brazen disrespect toward this court and his own clients. Mr. Berg's actions ... are an enormous waste of judicial time and resources that this court cannot, in good conscience, allow to go unpunished," Joyner wrote.

oh, Ms. Porter, how the mighty have fallen. (Gears 2 : "Nice!")

Here's a little background on Berg's latest lawsuit.

1) The State of Hawaii has confirmed they hold a valid copy of President-elect Obama's birth certificate in their files.

2) If you look at the pictures FactCheck posted, you will clearly see an official embossed seal from the state of Hawaii and a date stamp.

3) In the lawsuits where Sen. McCain's citizenship was challenged, the lawsuits were dismissed without Sen. McCain submitting a certified copy of his birth certificate into the court record.

4) Berg cites the Nationality Act of 1940, Section 317(b) to support his claim that Stanley Ann Durham lost her US citizenship as a result of marrying Lolo Soetoro and moving to Indonesia. In reality, the Nationality Act of 1940, Section 317(b) says:

"From and after the effective date of this Act, a woman, who was a citizen of the United States at birth, and who has or is believed to have lost her United States citizenship solely by reason of her marriage prior to September 22, 1922, to an alien, and whose marital status with such alien has or shall have terminated, if no other nationality was acquired by affirmative act other than such marriage,shall, from and after the taking of the oath of allegiance prescribed by subsection (b) of section 335 of this Act, be deemed to be a citizen of the United States to the same extent as though her marriage to said alien had taken place on or after September 22, 1922"In other words, that section applies if the US citizen married the foreign national before 1922. Berg says that Stanley Ann Durham married Lolo Soetoro in 1967, 45 years after the cutoff. Therefore, this law does not apply to the Dunham-Soetoro marriage, and Stanley Ann Dunham retained her US citizenship after marriage in the eyes of US law, which is what applies in this case.

As we can see, the law is clear. Obama is a natural citizen of the United States. He is older than 35, he has lived here longer than 14 years. Done! No?

Surely a guy couldn't get this far without meeting the basic requirements, could he? Turns out … he could. Especially if the political party whose job it is to verify that their candidate is qualified has a conflict of interest – they want their guy to win. This makes sense unless you consider that lots of other people have an interest in Obama's background: the GOP, the news, everyone in the US, etc.

Exhibit A: The Grandmother's tape
I was in the delivery room in [Mombosa,] Kenya, when he was born Aug. 4, 1961.
– Obama's paternal grandmother
This is the link where Obama's grandmother says Barack Obama is a native Kenyan.
Here's the phone call where Obama's grandmother says Obama was born in Kenya.
While politicians are known for it, grandmothers seldom lie Uh- huh. So, the law of the land says Obama is a natural US citizen, but we're taking his grandmother's words over the law. Again, this is real irony: Ms. Porter, who probably wouldn't stand in a room with a Kenyan unless they were serving her food is suddenly Mama Obama's biggest supporter. Besides that, Mama Obama is justifiably proud of her grandson's achievements. She is justifiably proud of being Kenyan. My grandmother (who is a not a native USian) frequently referred to me as "Italian". Should I be deported on the basis of those statements?

Experts have called the certificate of live birth a forgery. Phil Berg reported on my Faith2Action radio program yesterday, "It's clearly been altered," which invalidates it, according to the document itself. Berg added that there is no indication even on this certificate as to specifically where the birth took place. And it turns out that Hawaiian law at the time allowed people to register for this non-hospital short form certificate (without a doctor's signature) up to one year from the date of the child's birth. These are two of the three "experts" listed in the complaint (yes, this is actually how they are listed in a legal document presented to the Supreme Court) : Polarik (that's it, no first name) and "TechDude" (that's right, a screen name) Heck, if those are your requirements for being an expert, I'm a physicist. (Gears 2: "Sweet!")

Only Indonesian citizens could attend Indonesian schools at the time Barack Obama attended school in Indonesia where was registered as Barry Soetoro. His citizenship was listed as Indonesian and his religion as Islam. There was also no dual citizenship at the time.
If he was adopted by his Indonesian stepfather, he would have forfeited any U.S. citizenship he may have had, just as when a child is adopted in America, he or she becomes an American. Try harder. One of the parents had to be a citizen, not the child. His stepfather was an Indonesian citizen. Marriage does not automatically grant one citizenship and there is no evidence that Mom Obama gave up her US citizenship. Even if she had, that would not have invalidated Obama's citizenship.

According to Phillip Berg on my radio program yesterday, if Barack Obama went through immigration as he re-entered the United States Ok, I've had enough. If I say the Earth is flat on the radio tomorrow, does that make it true? No, but you're welcome to make an idiot out of yourself and quote me. (Gears 2: "Are you kidding me?")

And now comes the obligatory "slippery slope" argument. During the election, this came in the form of "A vote for Obama is a vote for gay terrorists to break into your home, force you to have an abortion and turn your kids gay with a single look!" (They'll be wearing lovely lavender uniforms, and after the abortion and gay-turning, will redecorate your home in an understated, but elegant, fashion. Gears 2: "Got one!") Today, the slippery slope argument is Here's the bottom line: either the Constitution matters or it doesn't. And if we're willing to ignore the constitutional requirements for the highest office in the land, what else are we willing to forgo? That part about free speech? Freedom of the press? Freedom of religion? If we are willing to shred one part of the Constitution, brace yourself to lose the rest .

BushDick spent the last eight years shredding the Constitution (see: wire-tapping) and I've still got freedom of speech and religion. I'm not defending BushDick or their actions, but the world hasn't stopped turning, I'm still proud to be an American (Gears 2: "Down in front!") and Ms. Porter's still free to worship Jesus by ignoring everything he ever said.