Have you ever spent time talking to a conspiracy theorist? You know the ones I mean, they believe that Woody Harrelson's father was on the grassy knoll in Texas on that fateful November morning. Bush was behind the 9/11 attacks so he could invade Iraq. The moon landing never happened....it was filmed at a movie studio. They are filled with meaningless facts and a disturbing habit of ignoring any information that contradicts their "theory". You can't disprove their "theory" because any proof you have is part of the "conspiracy"! An argument with them is always a ride on a merry-go-round....you travel around a lot, but you always end up back where you started.
The current conspiracy theory of choice for many American's is the idea that President Obama's birth certificate is a fake. Our current President (elected by a majority of the vote) was not born in America and is therefore not a "natural-born" citizen and ineligibal to hold the office of President.
Now for those of you who are NOT conspiracy theorists, I will offer a few facts regarding this outlandish claim:
The state of Haiwaii does not release the ACTUAL birth certificate. They release a copy that is certified by the state. (This is a major point of contention with the "birthers". They want the actual certificate in hand. Never stopping to wonder...if the original certificate is released from the state and is lost, then the state has no proof that you were really born. Sounds silly, but it's why states handle certificates in that manner. The originals are kept in the custody of the state and the state certifies that they have the certificate in it's keeping. You get the certification document.)
That certified copy of the original certificate has been released on line. You can view it on-line, even looking at the raised seal that "birthers" will tell you is not there. FactCheck.org has handled the actual document and it meets all State Department requirements for proving citizenship.
The Director of the Haiwaiian Department of Health, Chiyome Fukino and the Registrar of Vital Statistics, Alvin Onaka have both personally verified that the original certificate in on file with the state and the information released by President Obama is accurate. It should also be noted that both Fukino & Onaka are political appointees of the Republican Governor of Hawaii who campaigned for John McCain. (THERE IS NO WAY THAT SHE WOULD HAVE COVERED FOR OBAMA!)
The archives for both of Honolulu's major newspapers show birth announcements in August of 1961 for President Obama's birth in Hawaii.
Now, the "birthers" will post many comments on this with all sorts of wild ideas on how this happened. (Enjoy the read, it should be wild) But the bottom line is that unless you are willing to believe that 47 years ago, Barack Hussein Obama's Kenyan grandmother made arrangements with Hawaiian officials in the Department of Records, two newspapers and a forgery artist just in case her new-born grandson wanted to be President some day....you have to admit that he is an American citizen. (You don't have to like his policies, but he really is one of us!) If you still believe that President Obama is NOT an American citizen put your tinfoil hat on, hide in your basement and prepare for the alien invasions! It's not a problem. There are many people who believe we never made it to the moon...it's not true, but it doesn't hurt anyone. Enjoy your "theory"!
That brings us to the real point of this post! Most "birthers" are harmless. They send each other new e-mails every week laying out new proofs that the government is conspiring to hide this from the American people. But a few birthers have taken this idea to a new level...and it's a dangerous one.
Recently, Major Stephan Cook filed a lawsuit to prevent his upcoming deployment to Afghanistan on the grounds that President Obama has no legal right to hold the office of President and therefore no right to order the deployment of Major Cook. The military has since cancelled his deployment orders and the Cook camp is declaring a victory for the "birthers" and American Liberties. They maintain that by not fighting the lawsuit, the military has come to the same conclusion: President Obama has no legal authority to order troops. This is the gist of the story as told by Fox News.
The reality is a little different. Apparently, Major Cook (a reservist) volunteered to go to Afghanistan in May. (Huh?) Then filed suit against the government in June to prevent the deployment! (Again, HUH?) One wonders why he had such a quick conversion in becoming a "birther"? The military cancelled his deployment BECAUSE HE VOLUNTEERED. If you volunteer for deployment, you can request that your orders be revoked up to the time you are deployed. The revocation of orders was standard procedure...nothing more.
The truth is that Major Cook's lawsuit was part of a plan by California attorney Orly Taitz who has filed multiple suits alleging that President Obama is not a "natural-born" citizen. In late April, she was actively seeking military personnel to join a class action suit against the President. So in May, a reservist volunteers for duty and then four weeks later files a suit drawn up by...(drumroll please)...California attorney Orly Taitz!
The danger to this is that in her zeal to prove the lie that Obama cannot legally be president, she is inciting dissent in the ranks of the military. AND THAT'S WRONG!!! It was wrong when Jane Fonda did it and it's still wrong today. We are currently involved in two wars and to try to disrupt the military at this time over a proven lie is not something that comes across as American to me! This isn't someone who is blogging from their basement. This is someone who is actively trying to prove a point by disrupting our military. It's not harmless anymore!
Major Cook and Attorney Taitz.....REAL AMERICAN "ZEROS"!