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Go Home Live Free Or Die Seeking A Birth Certificate

THE STUMP NOVEMBER 21, 2011

Live Free Or Die Seeking A Birth Certificate

BY ALEC MACGILLIS

Mitt Romney has gone to such lengths to lock up New Hampshire that the first in the nation primary is looking to be something of a snooze-fest this year, unless Jon Huntsman gets his father to open up the family vault wider or Newt Gingrich's call for 9-year-olds to become paid school janitors strikes a surprising chord with the good people of Peterborough and Londonderry. But just because Romney is getting the state GOP establishment to line up behind him -- Kelly Ayotte! Charlie Bass! -- don't think that means that the state is lacking in the ferment that in years past produced big upsets for the likes of Pat Buchanan. The ferment's out there, it just hasn't managed to find its champion. Well, that is, until Orly Taitz came to town.

Yes, believe it or not, New Hampshire is going through a bit of a birther moment right now. Taitz -- the Soviet Union-born lawyer/dentist/state senate candidate from California and self-anointed birther standard-bearer -- came to Concord on Friday to argue before the state's Ballot Law Commission that Barack Obama should be barred from the state's primary ballot because he is in fact not a U.S. citizen. And she had some seemingly well-credentialed local supporters at her side, several Republican members of the New Hampshire House of Representatives who are firmly of the birther persuasion. As I explained in this recent piece, though, outlandish behavior by New Hampshire lawmakers should be always placed in proper context: when you have a legislative body with 400 people representing barely more than 3,000 people each, you're going to end up with some real winners. Thus we have this report from the Concord Monitor of the Ballot Law Commission's hearing:

As state election officials yesterday rejected California lawyer Orly Taitz's argument to keep President Obama's name off the New Hampshire presidential ballot, supporters lining the hearing room in the Legislative Office Building cried out in protest.

"Traitors!" shouted one woman. "Spineless traitors!"

"Saying a treasonous liar can go on our ballot?" yelled State Rep. Harry Accornero, a Republican from Laconia. "You're going to have to face the citizens of Laconia. You better wear a mask."

........

[Commission Chairman Bradford Cook] then addressed the several dozen other people in the room, a number of whom were videotaping the hearing: "Does anybody have factual evidence - not opinions, not rumors, not thoughts?"

"It's the Constitution, sir," said Dick Marple, a former state representative. "It states we must respect the law of nations." He went on to say that the British Nationality Act makes Obama a British citizen, since Obama's father was born in Kenya, which was still a British colony when Obama was born.

And so on. And while New Hampshire is unique in putting "Rep." in front of so many clear-thinking individuals, the response to the hearing suggests that birtherism remains strong across the land: After the Drudge Report linked to the Monitor's story, its Web site crashed from the rush of traffic. The commission's rejection of Taitz's demand has done nothing to quell matters. Taitz today posted a response on her Web site to what she says was an email she received yesterday from House Majority Leader D.J. Bettencourt, a Romney supporter, rejecting Taitz's demand that New Hampshire's longtime Secretary of State Bill Gardner be removed for failing to address Obama's fraudulence. In his email, Bettencourt declared that "Bill Gardner is a New Hampshire treasure who has worked tirelessly for Granite Staters and the preservative (sic) of our special political culture. The fact that he has drawn this ire establishes his good judgment. Were Secretary Gardner to even entertain your request he would be putting New Hampshire’s 'First in the Nation' Primary in grave danger. Please, Dr. Taitz, go away and leave New Hampshire alone." 

Taitz's response to Bettencourt was typically understated:

Mr. Betancourt (sic), my appearance before the committee was not an outburst, but a testimony with an undeniable proof of Barack Obama using a stolen Social Security number, forged birth certificate, committing elections fraud and treason. Your answer shows that you are another corrupt and dirty politician, who is maliciously disregarding the truth and the Constitution of this nation, who needs to be removed from the position of the Republican majority leader and who should be and will be tried for treason against this nation together with other corrupt politicians who put a complete fraud and a criminal wthout any valid US identification papers in the White House.

Too bad Rick Perry isn't making more of a push in the Granite State. On this issue, at least, he might be able to find some purchase!

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21 comments

I have one question: did her parents have some odd French thing going on when they named her after the main airport in Paris? Prior to its being dislodged from that position by Charles-de-Gaulle, of course.

- ironyroad

November 21, 2011 at 6:20pm

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Better to have one member of the House representing 3,000 people than one member of the U.S. House about to represent 700,00 people, due to the House of Representatives being unable to increase their number; or being able to save the "it is in the U.S. Constitution" United States Postal Service from a federally imposed mandate to fund pensions and retiree health insurance for 75 years; or being able to accomplish anything beyond designating pizza as a vegetable. Alec, cheap shot on Rick Perry, especially to link to the 'Perry-hating WaPo' article about the Parade Magazine interview that was done the morning after Perry's dinner with Donald Trump. An eight year-old could tell Perry was joking with the reporter, which is why the Parade editors excluded that 'birther' exchange from the 32 million print run. I thought Alec was at least thirteen years old.

- K2K

November 21, 2011 at 6:41pm

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It's not that these people exist that's the scary part, it's that they maintain such a privileged position among actual Republican officeholders.

- ATLeft

November 21, 2011 at 6:51pm

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Fair point, K2K. I changed the link to an article that also includes his later comments to John Harwood, where he jokingly declines to put the issue to rest.

- Alec MacGillis

November 21, 2011 at 7:10pm

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Is everybody meshugah lately? Or what? The British Nationality Act???? Oh for heaven's sake.

- Sophia

November 22, 2011 at 1:53am

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I don't understand how the Republican got to be known for advocating personal responsibility. It's like someone got off a boat, by mistake called them Indians and it's been that way ever since, despite the error.

- Nusholtz

November 22, 2011 at 6:41am

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"that birtherism remains strong across the land." -- incorrect. It indicates that "birtherism" remains very strong in a FEW PEOPLE. And from their arguments, rather lunatic deranged ignorant hypocritical people. Concluding from the violent arguments of a few people that an idea is strong "across the land" is the sort of over-generalization Fox-News supports.

- AllanL5

November 22, 2011 at 9:07am

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If you combined Orly's eyelashes with Paul Ryan's dreamy baby blues, you'd have a pretty good anime character.

- GeoffG

November 22, 2011 at 9:55am

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I love it. Keep up the good work, all you Orlys and Jerome Corsis out there. Don't quit until every last American who's not a member of the John Birch Society is physically unable to use "republican" in a sentance without also using the words "batshit insane".

- Tristan

November 22, 2011 at 9:58am

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I think the birther movement is still fairly strong. There are many millions of people in America who believe in conspiracies, and the more ridiculous the conspiracy is, the more they believe in it. I have a longtime friend who's a birther. Fortunately, he's not fanatic about it. Right now he's angry with Wall Street bankers and the politicians who let them run amok. He had a healthy economic life before 2008. Now he's $135,000 in debt, and he can't sell either of his houses. He's right to put the birther issue on the back burner.

- magboy47.

November 22, 2011 at 10:22am

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Thanks Alec, for acknowledging it was a fair point. You still need to consider how every candidate uses "dog whistles" to reach voter subsets. Maybe take a course in defining Presidential leadership? I did, in 2004, and it really changed how I look at the American presidency and elections, based on Stephen Skowronek "The Politics Presidents Make: Leadership from John Adams to Bill Clinton." Cambridge: The Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, 1993. The NYT has been much fairer in their coverage of Perry on real issues, like the Texas death penalty. The WaPo jumped off the deep end of relevance with that rock story. My hobby is following media echo and distortion on specific stories, and I have found Perry-coverage to be tainted with the overlays of "dumber than W" and "all Southern white men are racist" stereotypes. However, that is nothing compared to the online Paulista cyber-war against Perry, a topic that TNR will never cover unless Peretz weighs in with Ron Paul as the re-incarnation of Henry Ford, Sr.

- K2K

November 22, 2011 at 10:58am

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DJ Bettencourt probably doesn't know this, but Orly Taitz surely does -- in Russian, "preservative" (or "preservativ") means "condom". Just wanted to throw that out there for your enjoyment this gloomy November day.

- wildboy

November 22, 2011 at 11:35am

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Wildboy, you ventured where I was tempted to go myself. It's got the same double-meaning in German as well. Americans have been known to inspire sniggers when they show up at breakfast asking for 'preservativen' on their morning toast.

- Alec MacGillis

November 22, 2011 at 11:49am

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Warning. If you are pregnant, and you want your child to someday be POTUS, make sure you have the birth on national television, with thousands of respectable witnesses watching in person and signing notarized statements. On the other hand, I favor a Constitutional Amendment removing the "native born" requirement. Maybe it was important in John Quincy Adams' day, but why do we need it now?

- skahn

November 22, 2011 at 12:18pm

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"I favor a Constitutional Amendment removing the "native born" requirement. Maybe it was important in John Quincy Adams' day, but why do we need it now?" Two words - President Arnold.

- BryanRWA

November 22, 2011 at 2:58pm

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What is it with these Soviet Union rejects coming to America and spreading swill by telling us who is and isn't a real American? First we had Ayn Rand's inability to write her way out of a wet paper sack infecting the GOP with ideas about 'economic supermen' and 'job creators', but now we have this Orly broad with her bad interpretation of Twiggy eyes, harpy like attitude about traitors, and audacity to marry some guy named Yosef (how unAmerican can you be?) get off determining who is the real American? With a name like Orly, some real 'Mericans with names like John and Beth aught to run her out of town.

- singlspeed

November 22, 2011 at 6:15pm

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Bryan: "President Arnold" For a moment, I thought you were talking about Benedict, but then finally my ancient brain clicked in on Schwarzenegger. On the other hand, how does the Amendment protect us from President Herman, or President Rick or President Ron the Second, or President Michelle or President Sarah? It's kind of like trying to protect you house from mosquitoes by using a rocket-propelled grenade. It's not got the discrimination needed. If the nominating/electing system provided by the rest of our electoral system and history cannot do it -- and that's certainly possible -- don't forget Warran Harding, and going back a bit, Andrew Johnson, Franklin Pierce, and James Buchanan. We won WW II, but it wasn't a sure thing. None of our Presidents have destroyed our country, but there's no guarantee.

- skahn

November 22, 2011 at 6:45pm

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You tell 'em, singlespeed. I concur. This bimba should go back to Russia and tell Putin that he's not a real Russian. Vlady P., I'm sure, would embrace her. He just got China's Confucius Peace Prize. Uh-huh.

- magboy47.

November 22, 2011 at 11:34pm

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Arnold was a very pragmatic and to some extent genuinely non-partisan governor of California. Or, to put it another way, California Republicans would not bring themselves to speak to him by the end of his term.

- ironyroad

November 23, 2011 at 2:04am

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"the British Nationality Act makes Obama a British citizen, since Obama's father was born in Kenya, which was still a British colony when Obama was born." Using this logic, isn't every Jewish American ineligible to be president since they qualify for Israeli citizenship?

- brokensq

November 23, 2011 at 10:21am

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magboy...i wonder what kind of slap-down Putin would give to someone calling him a fake Russian let alone a fake Russian wussy-man. It would not be pretty.

- singlspeed

November 23, 2011 at 1:03pm

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