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Monday, August 30, 2010

Birthers, Again

"Nonsense" is such a harsh word, but it does capture, in a way, the fact that President Obama's birth records have moved beyond the point of being an interesting topic for discussion.  The person using the word "Nonsense" is local blogger Greg Page, here.

The money quote, referring to the currently circulating school registration form from Indonesia:
Guess what Line 2 says? "Place and date of birth." It's right there -- I don't care whether he was going by Soetoro or Obama at the time, the student referred to was born in Hawaii in 1961.  It doesn't matter that his "warga negara" (nationality) is listed as Indonesian or that his "agama" (religion) is listed as Islam.  In the first case, by living in Indonesia, he never would've lost the U.S. citizenship he gained by being born in Hawaii; as for the second, it's not inconsistent with anything he's said about finding Christ later in life (and as far as his qualification to be President goes, that should be irrelevant anyway).
This is not to say that the Reverend Franklin Graham is wrong in saying that having been born of a Muslim Father, he is presumed by (many) Muslims to be Muslim.  But, as Greg Page notes, he found "Christ later in life".  That works for me.

At the link above you can find a copy of the school registration form.

Now, can we get back to the question of ifwhether President Obama should fire his economic team?  That is the critical question.  Is Professor Laura Tyson correct in saying we just need another shot of stimulus or are those who argue that businesses in the US are sitting on $2 Trillion worth of capital and afraid to invest closer to the mark?

UPDATE:  My grammar has been critiqued and I have changed from "question of if" to "question of whether".  This is based upon the advice of my spouse.

Regards  —  Cliff

  From The New York Times, Ms "Laura Tyson, a professor at the Haas School of Business at the University of California, Berkeley, was chairwoman of the Council of Economic Advisers and the National Economic Council in the Clinton administration. She is a member of President Obama’s Economic Recovery Advisory Board."

9 comments:

Jack Mitchell said...

"Nonsense" is a kind word, but nevermind any of that.

Works for you? You're Catholic. How about all the born again Christians out there?

Should I entertain the premise, that Obama WAS a muslim, there isn't a Baptist in the world that would argue that once he "accepted Christ as his personal savior" he was not a Christian. Or is it that he is just saved.

My head hurts from all the mythology.

As Gregg pointed out, religious affiliation is not a constitutional requirement. It's printed on our dogtags, but that's so the remains are treated accordingly.

"Nonsense" is definately a kind word.

C R Krieger said...

Why can't I, as a Roman Catholic, be "Born Again"?  Unless you are of the school, once expressed to me in the form of a question, "How can you be Catholic and Christian?"  I apparently convinced this person, as I was then invited to give my "testimony" to the men's group of his off base (Naples, Italy) Baptist Church.

And, all those Baptists would be correct that having "accepted Christ as his personal savior" he is a Christian, and he is saved.  "Eternal Security".

And, religious affiliation is not a requirement in the US Constitution, although for a while it was in the Constitution of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.  Fortunately, those days are gone.

Speaking of dog tags, when I was a squadron commander I had a fine young officer in the squadron (Captain Christ) who used to tell me he was a Druid.  Finally, I asked him what his dog tags said and then told him to up to the Consolidated Base Personnel Office (CBPO) and get a new set with "Druid" on them, which he did.  Ah, for the good old days, when that was the most pressing problem in my life and flying was the way to move beyond that pressure.

As a side note, I put out the word to the Operations Officer that if I was ever overdue from a flight he should immediately ground Captain Christ.  The reason was the good Captain had already found three overdue aircraft in the Alaska wilds, once when we were flying together (a guide and his passenger, in a float plane on a lake, tail up).  Another was the owner of "Blackie's Bar" outside of Eielson AFB, AK.  Unfortunately, in each case the pilot was killed in the accident.  Thus, my precaution.

Regards  —  Cliff

Jack Mitchell said...

On the "birther" thing, as a whole. The obsession is part of an ongoing need to delegitimze Obama as POTUS. I hear, "They're racists!" all the time. I reply, "Surely, a few are. But mostly, they are just fighting back using the whole,'Bush wasn't really elected' frame that the Left clung to."

When we don't like something, we try to delegitimize it. It's human nature. Hell, I'll even throw out the "Florida card" for fun. But then I add, "If Gore had bothered to win his home state of TN, then the shennanigans by the FL SOS wouldn't matter one bit."

The clear eyed can see these things.

C R Krieger said...

Agree with that.

Regards  —  Cliff

Lambie said...

Cliff wrote: This is not to say that the Reverend Franklin Graham is wrong in saying that having been born of a Muslim Father, he is presumed by (many) Muslims to be Muslim. But, as Greg Page notes, he found "Christ later in life".

It's worth adding that Franklin Graham said the same thing in his interview -- that Obama had later become a Christian. The media just didn't bother to get to that part in quoting him.

Renee said...

Cliff, I received a mass email with the President's school records also. And I was like..... so?

Jack Mitchell said...

Make way for the "Dunkers." They demand to see Obama's baptismal certificate.

What is bothering me, is not the small group of shitheads that truly think this is a real issue. Rather, I'm getting pissed with the run of the mill GOPers that tolerate this utter bullshit because it nags Obama and hobbles his Presidency.


No Shame:
“This is not a political issue,” say the Christian leaders. “The signers of this letter come from different political and ideological backgrounds, but we are unified in our belief in Jesus Christ. As Christian pastors and leaders, we believe that fellow Christians need to be an encouragement to those who call Christ their savior, not question the veracity of their faith.”

However, what is being questioned is not his faith but the veracity of his claim in his book, published as he was preparing his presidential run, that he underwent a baptism. Was this claim inserted into the book to make Obama more politically palatable to the American electorate who would be naturally suspicious about what the media called his “unorthodox” religious background?

Some Christians claim that baptism is not required to become a Christian. Obama could have claimed that he became a Christian in Wright’s church through a simple profession of faith and that a formal baptism was not required. Instead, however, he claimed to have undergone the procedure.

C R Krieger said...

It makes my head hurt.

This nation is made up of fringe groups, who usually pull together at election time to pick one of two or three candidates.  Often about half those "fringes" don't vote at all, because no one is close to their position or because no one is far enough away from their position to bother them.

In today's Boston Globe a Mr Chuck Lathrop, of Pembroke, argues that the National GOP is ceding control of the party to fringe elements.  Unfortunatley for Mr Lathrop, the Grand Old Party is not a top down operation, but closer to a bottom up operation.  It is a creature of the State Parties, which in turn, are creatures of the local State Republicans, plus those rootless (some might say feckless) "Unenrolled" voters who happen to pick a Republican Ballot at some primary election.

I do thing that one's religion should be a personal issue, but we all know that is not the case in politics. While one of the earlier Chief Justices of the US Supreme Court was a Roman Catholic (or maybe we don't know that), it took until 1961 before we swore in a Roman Catholic as President and have not repeated that since. Governor Mitt Romney faces serious issues about his Mormonism in his run for office.  If Muslims think they are discriminated against they should consider what it means to be a Mormon in this society.

Continuing on this theme, would the electorate go for a candidate who said "God Damn America...", as did the Rev Wright? I don't think so. Mr Obama may have heard the Rev Wright's critique of these United States, but he rejected it.  In the same way, I am pretty convinced he heard or heard of the critiques of Mr Bill Ayers.  I would think he has rejected those also.  But, that background is not to be ignored.  On the other hand, I don't think the question of which faith he has or if he was sprinkled or immersed is relevant or of interest to the majority of voters.

Another place where "religion" intervenes is with regard to Israel and there is a big collection of voters who seem to care about that issue and if Mr Obama is seen as not being supportive of Israel, it could cost him votes.

So, my position on his type of Baptism, or even if he was Baptised, is, to quote Renee, "so"?  (And, as an RC, I do accept Baptism of Desire.)

Regards  &mash;  Cliff

C R Krieger said...

OK, so this is a joke, but apparently the latest Newsweek cover says that Barack Obama is not the President.  That is the trouble with English.  It is so confusing.  But, like Pajamas Media writer Ed Driscoll, I believe he is still the President.

Regards  —  Cliff