Rep. Mike Coffman (R-Colo.) delivered some pretty stunning remarks at a fundraiser over the weekend, and unfortunately for him, the NBC affiliate in Denver obtained a copy of his speech.
Around the 3:20 mark, Coffman, the two-term Republican congressman, says of the president:
"I don't know whether Barack Obama was born in the United States of America. I don't know that. But I do know this, that in his heart, he's not an American. He's just not an American."
Asked for an explanation, the congressman issued a statement that "I misspoke and I apologize."
That doesn't work. Sure, everyone misspeaks from time to time, especially in public affairs. Someone might accidentally say Iraq, when they meant Iran. Someone meant to say 47, but they said 57. They're just verbal slipups, and they're hardly worth getting excited about.
But it's not an example of "misspeaking" when someone says, "I don't know whether Barack Obama was born in the United States of America. I don't know that. But I do know this, that in his heart, he's not an American. He's just not an American." It's not like this just slipped out accidentally.
Coffman added in his written explanation, "I don't believe the president shares my belief in American Exceptionalism. His policies reflect a philosophy that America is but one nation among many equals."
For the record, Obama has emphasized his support for the principles of "American exceptionalism" rather explicitly, a fact more than a few observers acknowledged, even on the right.
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How would you like to live in the district Coffman represents. It has to be wingnut central. For any politician to think that he is telling them what they want to hear they have to be a signular group of grasping, stupid, self absorbed, hateful, ugly fools. What is it Randy Newman used to call people like Coffman and his consituency--short people?
Mr. Byers, Coffman was preceded in this 'wingnut' district by Tom Tancredo, King of Wingnuts. While he notes that he believes "because (he) was a Marine", in American Exceptionalism, he pushed for slashing entitlements for military personnel. What an 'exceptional' guy, huh?
how can these people be such pathological liars? oh, right. they ain't got nothin else.
Also, they get away with it.
And ignorant people stick up for the wrong people like them while calling the wrong people liars.
English is our primary language, Congressman. We understood what you said - just fine.
As Americans have been dumbed down let me state:
1) Hawaii became our 50th state August 21, 1959 - as Barak Obama was born in Hawaii in 1961, that automatically makes him AN AMERICAN!
2) Even "if" Hawaii was not a state when he was born - HIS MOTHER IS A NATURAL BORN AMERICAN - which means that HE'S AMERICAN unless he chooses otherwise!
Hate comes from a small natured person, and the GOP is full of closed minded, small charactered, ill-informed, people! Shame on them for being so evil as to destroy this country & the freedoms that WE all enjoy due to the mental afflictions!
It's even worse than you imagine.
The citizenship status of a person's parents isn't actually relevant. The 14th Amendment says nothing about parents, a fact driven home by US v. Wong Kim Ark.
Also, a person does not have to be born in a state to be a natural-born citizen, as territories and other non-state entities are every bit as much citizens of the US as states. The 14th Amendment is, again, very broad.
So if Obama had been born in Guam to non-citizen permanent residents, he'd still be a natural-born citizen and eligible to be president.
Dumbed down? Oh, yeah, but even more so than you thought. If their dumb were a geographic location, it'd be lowest spot on earth.
When they say they 'misspoke' I think what they really mean is 'out loud in front of a camera' not that they don't believe what they said.
smb is right -- I don't know why Benen (who generally has good radar) harps on this. This kind of psycho BS helps a modern Republican.
I'm bothered by something completely different: that American Exceptionalism is considered to be a self-evident axiom. There are many wonderful things about the US. There are also terrible things, obviously in its history, but even in current policies, both domestic and foreign. Of course, this is true of every other nation. But that's precisely my point. It is not self-evidently "the greatest nation on earth" by a long shot.
More of a doctrine than an axiom, I think. It's like the Arian controversy, only there aren't any actual Arians; but still Obama, Democrats and leftists are heretics against a phantom orthodoxy.
The catalogue of "I mısspoke" quası-apologıes from Republıcans could fıll an entıre book.
Thıs ıs gettıng dısgustıng and they need to be called out on ıt every tıme ıt happens. Had there not been vıdeo of the remark, I am sure that Rep. Coffman would not have self-corrected hımself (whıch he dıd only after he was on televısıon sayıng what he saıd).
Strap in buddy . You ain't seen nothin' yet.
The sh*t storm of vitriol and racism about to be unleashed courtesy of Citizens United and the Supremes will curl your toes . I plan on disconnecting the TEE VEE shortly to preserve my sanity
sick-n-effin: It's already pretty openly and explicitly racist. In case you might have missed it recently, then-candidate Santorum (Google it!) stopped not-quite-short of using what's evidently a disgustingly commonly used phrase amongst the right-wing-nuts (and can we please stop calling them "conservative" when they are nothing of the sort?).
In a speech being delivered Janesville, WI, Santorum said, "...we know... we know the candidate Barack Obama... what he was like: the antiwar government nig- uh, the, uh, America was a source for division around the world..."
13 seconds of video featuring the quote in question:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2OaBNOomwD0
Kind of a Freudian slip of the tongue, I guess. Asked about it afterward, his campaign wouldn't "dignify" it with a comment. If you ask me, I'd say dignity was no longer an option...
I get so tired of hearing about "American exceptionalism." I love my country, but I also know that it can be better--a LOT better. We will not be truly "exceptional" until we can take care of ALL of our people.
Right, that is what we stand for, ever forming a more perfect union and securing liberty and justice to our posterity. Inherently looking forward to better future for all. Yes, liberty and justice for all.
It seems that many Republicans, including Romney and Coffman that there are only some people worth liberty and justice.
The worst part is that the people who so intently snuggle with the idea of "exceptionalism" are those who are the most dead-set against actually doing anything to achieve or preserve greatness. It's as if they own a beautiful old house and they'd much prefer to declare its beauty but let it rot rather than keep it up, because to them doing the work of maintenance is somehow a denial of the beauty of the house.
"I misspoke" without the context of the original statement, or a correcting addendum explaining the nature of the misspoken statement, is a coward's errand!
Yes, Coffman, I'm calling you out as a coward! You're a meely-mouthed chicken-necked piece of panty-waste! You and your lot who would sully the office of the presidency to get that black-man out of your White House seems to be the impetus of your efforts!
No, Coffman, you're not only a coward, you're a bigoted, race-based, coward - the kind that most likely secretly has an admiration toward those who would don white conic hoods! -Kevo
RM, correction/clarrrrification of congressman's statement, as follows (sort of):
"He is not American" Misspeak: Meant to say Obama not on same plane, maybe Delta Force, fractional ownership, whatever, just a guess. "Not born in the USA". Misspeak: Meant that he was not born in the contiguous 48, which are all united geographically, tied together by land. That may also be another way to explain SarahPalin. On the same level, one could argue that the former Alaska Gov is not contiguous...as in...her remarks/actions/etc. Then again, maybe I misspoke. Should I have said EX (not FORMER?) But, as former Pres Nixon loved to add, "that would be wrong". All the EXs are in Texas.
Also, the atmosphere can cause Misspeak. For example: if you were speaking from the congressman's turf, Denver Mile High Stadium...the air is thin. May cause speech irregularities...slurred speech..inability to focus on printed word, causing distortion. Pilots, astronauts, even politicians can attest. During this 2012 political cycle...refered to as "Being Newtered".
Another purpose for misspeaking: it allows you to stretch reality. Knowing that the odds are with you... and you most likely, won't get called on it. Kinda like stretching, distorting a synthetic credit market/price, thinking it "too big to fail", eventhough you know that you are really pushing it. Final possibility for a congressional misspeak: It is sorta like a tree falling in the woods...the sound it makes...depends upon who/how many heard it. END All above fictional. Any similarity to real person(s), event(s), and/or place(s) coincidental. Not responsible for errors. Great pace on program.
May I just interject that while people are still talking about where President Obama was born, I have still never heard anyone mention that John McCain was born in Panama? I am in no way positing that he is not a citizen, but I find it fascinating that it has never even been brought up, while every millisecond of the president's childhood has been subjected to intense scrutiny.
Actually, the subject of McCain's birthplace was brought up and dropped again very quickly. Even though this apparently happened without your noticing at the time, it still happened. See this and this for samples of what you missed out on.
How in the HELL do Republicans expect to have American Exceptionalism when they consistently cut education funding, allow student loan interest rates to double, put american workers at severe disadvantages and support the exporting of american jobs overseas? Our test scores in math and science lag behind many many other countries.
They need to learn that American Exceptionalism does NOT mean "hey, 1% of our citizens are so wealthy they have multiple vacation homes, boats and elevators for their many automobiles!!!"
Steve, I think your weekly Mitt's Mendacity column is valuable, but for some of these downticket yokels we're going to need a whole new parameter. I suggest LPM: lies per minute. A new website, PolitiLIES would pair these clips with a simultaneous graph, like an EKG printout, neatly recording as a line or even better, bars, the number of lies in each 60 seconds. There are so many Republican candidates, and this would be so work-intensive, that unemployment would plummet.
One area in which America IS exceptional, is it's history of letting people from all over the world BECOME Americans.
How Ironic that Conservative Fear Mongering...for political effect...has slammed the Door on one of our greatest National Assets.
Oh yeah...the 'misspoke' apology...'AND I will continue to misspeak as much as I WANT. Are you trying to take away my FREEDOM OF SPEECH? Don't you believe in the CONSTITUTION? OBAMA is trying to curtail our FREEDOMS!!!' huh.
Since having to go back on what you said is such a big part of this campaign, it should be called 'Mittspeaking'.
The President is divisive? It is he who is polarizing America with relentless attacks on women's rights? It is he who is proposing to let the biggest banks again rum amok with no regulatory oversight? It is he who refuses to talk about what is happening in the Congress, deflecting every question with an "I will only talk about jobs" statement? You have to watch what these Teapublicans DO not what they say, they lie, they outright lie about events we have seen with our own eyes and then DO something totally different. They have no war on women, that is a democratic invention. Then why in every state of the union that has a republican majority are the same proposals to restrict choice, attack unions and legislate or constitutionally prohibit gay marriage and promote voter id laws which will have the effect of disenfranchising young, old and the poor, all of whom tend toward the progressive side? That is what they DO. What they say is they're about the jobs. What jobs? How many have they created and in what industries? They have proposed nothing but attacks on women, cutbacks in aid to the poor, disabled and wealthy. They care about children only while they are in the womb, once out, they ARE out on their own - their signature budget decimates the safety net. But the 1% get wealthier, those, as Governor Perry called them, Vulture Capitalists don't create jobs with tax cuts, they buy another house or two and hold onto the rest. This is just one more clear example of the shell game they are playing with the American people. Watch what they DO, not only listen to what they say. Please. Our country's future depends on it.
WTF is "American Exceptionalism" anyway? Do they really believe that America is protected by some magical aura that would provide us from going the way of the Romans or the British Empire?
I think the right uses the words 'American exceptionalism' as a kind of totem or charm. The words themselves have no real meaning for them beyond an assertion of innate greatness. I suspect that for them what matters most is the power of the words to ward off doubts about America's place in the world.
In origin, though, the term has been used variously to, for example, denote how the US differs from the European countries most of it's people came from, or how it is that the US has always lacked a strong leftist political movement. The right-wing use of the word as a fetish or a shibboleth is I think much more recent.
"American exceptionalism" is the intellectually bankrupt doctrine that America is inherently superior in every way simply by virtue of being America.
Yes, well we are beginning to understand the right's idea of being American and it ain't what the founders envisioned at all.
Does Rep. Coffman think he's qualified to be the offical spokesperson for the Corps?
I'm a veteran and he certainly does not speak for me.
Does Rep. Coffman realize he is violating the military oath he took by spreading dissent against the Commander in Chief by publicly slandering the President?
I'm sure that there are plently of active duty and veteran Marines that support our President and do not accept Rep. Coffman's factless claims aimed at dividing we Americans.
The only thing about America that is exceptional is our stupidity.
You nailed it, except for our exceptional laziness and lack of responsibilities.
Defend Free-dumb.. Yes, we must have free stupid so that all Republicans from all walks of life can have the liberty to say pathetic and really dumb things that would make anyone with a sense of propriety cringe.
Who elected this anti-American piece of trash? Who gives him his walking orders? He is a prime example of American un-exceptionalism. He's the kind of sub-human congress member who represents the "white supremicists." I understand that there are quite a few of them but I find it hard to believe that so many are in one congressional district. Hey folks, election day is Novemer 6th. You need to dump this guy, he's giving you a very bad name.
Well Well Well,What we have hear is a typical Republican Politician "Speaking from where the sun dont shine........I feel bad for the voter$$ that got him in office.