Taimur Talks
Birthers, go home!
Taimur Gibson
Issue date: 10/29/09 Section: Opinion
American politics have turned ugly lately; in particular, I am referring to the "birther" movement.
If you are fortunate enough not to have heard of this, allow me to explain. The birther movement is a nationwide group of protesters who believe that President Barack Obama was not born in the United States of America, which would make him constitutionally ineligible to be president. They demand to see Obama's birth certificate, which would confirm that he was born in the United States. Hence the term: "birther."
Obama is a distinguished and well-educated African-American with a rich cultural background. This seems to be irreconcilable with the birther movement, as they are suspicious enough to be extremely vocal about his birth certificate.
The birther movement represents a disgusting and shameful trend of racism and xenophobia in our country. The birthers represent a group of people so distrustful and so desperate to delegitimize the president, they have resorted to the only method possible to do so: constitutional ineligibility.    Â
The requirements laid out by the Constitution to be president are as follows: The president must be at least 35-years-old, a resident of the U.S. for at least 14 years and must have been born in America.
Obama clearly meets the first two requirements, but the birthers have implied, insinuated and outright accused the president of being born in another country. Specifically, they claim that he was born in Kenya, his father's place of birth, or Indonesia, where he spent part of his youth.
These protests are the last dying breath of a group of voters that is trying as hard as they can to reject the fact that an African-American has been elected president. The argument can be made that this is not a racist movement, but a constitutionalist movement; the members of this movement simply want to ensure that the Constitution is upheld.
This argument, however, can be easily defeated by the fact that Obama's Hawaiian birth certificate has already been made publicly available, along with newspaper archives announcing his birth in Hawaii.
If you are fortunate enough not to have heard of this, allow me to explain. The birther movement is a nationwide group of protesters who believe that President Barack Obama was not born in the United States of America, which would make him constitutionally ineligible to be president. They demand to see Obama's birth certificate, which would confirm that he was born in the United States. Hence the term: "birther."
Obama is a distinguished and well-educated African-American with a rich cultural background. This seems to be irreconcilable with the birther movement, as they are suspicious enough to be extremely vocal about his birth certificate.
The birther movement represents a disgusting and shameful trend of racism and xenophobia in our country. The birthers represent a group of people so distrustful and so desperate to delegitimize the president, they have resorted to the only method possible to do so: constitutional ineligibility.    Â
The requirements laid out by the Constitution to be president are as follows: The president must be at least 35-years-old, a resident of the U.S. for at least 14 years and must have been born in America.
Obama clearly meets the first two requirements, but the birthers have implied, insinuated and outright accused the president of being born in another country. Specifically, they claim that he was born in Kenya, his father's place of birth, or Indonesia, where he spent part of his youth.
These protests are the last dying breath of a group of voters that is trying as hard as they can to reject the fact that an African-American has been elected president. The argument can be made that this is not a racist movement, but a constitutionalist movement; the members of this movement simply want to ensure that the Constitution is upheld.
This argument, however, can be easily defeated by the fact that Obama's Hawaiian birth certificate has already been made publicly available, along with newspaper archives announcing his birth in Hawaii.
Viewing Comments 1 - 8 of 12
Boomhaur
posted 10/29/09 @ 10:40 PM EST
As most should know from previous posts, I am a conservative. This political viewpoint makes me a minority at Geneseo who is treated very disrespectfully on a regular basis. (Continued…)
Dale Stevens
posted 10/30/09 @ 8:52 AM EST
Taimur, Obviously your education is not complete. You are suffering from the same ignorance as those who think that a computer generated form is a birth certificate. (Continued…)
Attorney
posted 10/30/09 @ 1:18 PM EST
The Obama/Holder/DOJ loons posting in defense of Obama on every website that speaks against the administration are PAID WITH OUR TAX DOLLARS to blog, search "The Obama Justice Department's Secret Blogging Team. (Continued…)
Boomhaur
posted 10/30/09 @ 4:26 PM EST
To Dale Stevens,
I disagree with the notion that Obama was not legally qualified to be president, however, I'd like to answer a few of your questions related to Geneseo. (Continued…)
Hopeless
posted 10/30/09 @ 5:14 PM EST
Dale
Please go back to LGF or the Hannity forums or wherever your ilk hang out and masturbate to fantasies of an illegitimate presidency. Your party is dead. (Continued…)
Alexander Berberich
posted 11/03/09 @ 7:20 PM EST
Boomhaur,
First, get your facts straight. Logic is in fact taught in Geneseo's Philosophy department, the Introductory-level course of which is taught by the unique and probably brilliant Stacey Edgar. (Continued…)
Boomhaur
posted 11/04/09 @ 12:51 AM EST
Advertise myself? I'm not sure what you want to know. Would you like to see my tax returns?
According to a study published in the Washinton Post, 72% of college professors are liberal, compared to 15% who identify as conservatives. (Continued…)
Alexander Berberich
posted 11/04/09 @ 8:46 PM EST
That study was probably done nationwide, and is therefore not representative of the sample at Geneseo. And, if you'd like to get into an argument of studies, most done on the subject of Political Socialization come to the conclusion that a child is imbued with his or her political leanings before the end of high school, making your point moot regardless. (Continued…)
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