Associated Press
Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach
Just to close the circle on a post from last week, it's worth noting that the birther effort in Kansas won't keep President Obama off the state's ballot after all.
A board of three elected Republican officials decided to allow President Barack Obama to remain on the Kansas ballot during a brief meeting on Monday, despite the protest of California lawyer/dentist Orly Taitz, arguably the nation's most infamous "birther."
The unanimous vote brought a swift end to a saga which began Thursday evening when the Kansas Objections Board considered a complaint from a state resident seeking to exclude Obama from the ballot.
The original complaint had been filed by a local conspiracy theorist named Joe Montgomery, who withdrew his objection late Friday.
Nevertheless, Hawaiian officials also sent Kansan officials some additional materials on the president's birth -- the same documents Hawaii sent Arizona earlier in the year -- and this, coupled with Montgomery dropping his complaint, effectively ended the controversy.
There's no realistic chance the president is going win Kansas' six electoral votes anyway, but he'll nevertheless be on the ballot.
Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach, an advisor to the Romney campaign on immigration policy, has closed the window of opportunity to raise new objections.
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He got what he wanted, to be on the teevee machine.
He got the birther voters' attention. He is a "shoe" in for whatever it is that they want going forward. Blah!
All hail, he won the stupid vote.
He did, Jan-21270, but it's a large voting block, just look at the polls.
Empty suits, empty promises, empty chairs, propped up by lies, secret money, manufactured fears, agitated prejudices all in the name of god, make for a wonderful portrait don't they Mitt?
The Republican Party appears to be gleefully and blissfully running off the cliff of extremism, hand in hand with the most insidious, racist, and anti-American elements of the Tea Party. Years after it seemed to have simmered down, the GOP is embracing birtherism anew. Look at the 2012 landscape. Scores of Republican candidates for Congress have publicly questioned Obama legitimacy as president, and now the GOP's own presidential nominee is tacitly endorsing birther dogma by openly pal'ing around with Donald Trump, birther-in-chief. Are conservatives so worried that Romney can't beat the president that they want to get Obama off the ballot by any means possible? Where are the grownups in the GOP?! - principled progressive
Republicans are ideological stuck.They insist on pure conservatism from their candidates.
Where people are involved, if you insist on nothing less than purity in a messed up world you are setting yourself up to be hypocritical. It's just a matter of how long it takes.
They are scared, and you cansee it by the way they act with the voter ID issue, in PA (where I live) they couldn't provide ONE case of voter fraud, statistics say that within the last 10 years in ALL elections there has been under 70 cases of voter fraud in the whole country. They know they can't win, so they do this kind of "tricks" plus the Supreme Court desicion about Citizen United. They rather sell the election to see Obama re-elected. It's sickening
He may not be able to win the state but there will be many proud Democrats in Kansas who want to vote for him. Win or lost their votes matter too.
every vote counts because you never know...
People of Kansas wake up. Obama Bides is the only sane way to go. Romney is a puppet of the Koch Bros and Adelson. Do your Fact checking.
Ladenson will get a $2Billion break on taxes by spending $100Million in political ad campaign. What a steal! A 2,000% rate of return!!
effectively ended the controversy
Excuse Me?
There is no "controversy " only a bunch of racists bypassing the dog whistle for a klaxon.
Those people make me sick.
This is Orly Taitz we are talking about; a person who takes the whole joke of 'send in the clowns' to as many levels as possible. they caused a mockery of our electoral system becuase they cant stand black people in the white house, I like to imagine there is a birther bus that goes from redstate to redstate, filled with the same people doing all this BS, and orly taitz wears more makeup than ringling brothers. It also pisses me off that mrs. Taitz is not even a natural born american citizen. If I remeber correctly, she immigrated from isreal, where she had immigrated from another country, where she had immigrated from ukraine. She has changed her national loyalty as much as mitt romney has changed his position on abortions and gay rights.
oh, and I want to apologize for forgetting to say that the natural born part is not an attack on immigration, but on the fact that someone who wasnt even born in the country she immigrated to the united states from is attacking someone who was born in america for having a father from a foriegn country, a father that he had really no contact with, and met only once. My bad for forgetting to put that in.
Taitz is the poster child for divided loyalty. There really is such a thing, and it seems to be pandemic among those on the right.
Perhaps Ron White is wrong. Perhaps you can fix stupid. What an embarrassing time for Kansas. And yes I am from Kansas.
Just like the controversy over the shape of planet earth has been (effectively) ended. Both sides have been heard, now you decide.
There aren't two sides however. The earth has always been round and revolved around the sun. You can argue vote or your way out of the facts. Same with Evolution there is no argument. There is no deciding to the facts.
That was my feeble attempt at sarcasm/snark. Clearly, facts are facts, no matter how they are spun. Some people choose old facts that have been replaced by new facts to support their old positions. All facts are subject to reinterpretation and replacement by more current research. I think that science is still part art.
The truth is not a democracy. Regardless of whether or not people buy in, the laws of physics will still apply, evolution will continue to happen, the polar ice will continue to melt and women will continue to get pregnant from rape.
There is no vote on the truth. There may be some latitude in the interpretation of things, but the basic reality is there whether people "believe" it or not. Science is not a tinkerbell situation where something only exists if people believe hard enough.
Someone gave the lunatics the keys to the asylum. I hardly recognize America anymore. I have no doubt Obama is going to win ... but what I am afraid of this norm of divisive, hateful insanity from SO many of our civil servants.
Tina, you are so right. I am much older than you and have seen more of America's political history and I no longer recognize our country. What is even more disturbing is the pundits from the right are still trying to support Romney, no matter what stupid thing he says and those left leaning ones with a few exceptions show no real outrage at what is going on with voter suppression, right wing state representatives, training of poll monitors that will question and intimidate voters, blaming Obama for mid-east unrest when Arab spokesmen say clearly that most protests are stirred up by those with extreme agendas, unemployed youth who are angry the Arab Spring reforms are producing instant results, etc. And the unemployment in the US, what and who caused this? Obama? Hardly! As President Clinton said, no president could turn things around any faster. And the 12,000,000 jobs Romney says he will create in 4 years, most economists say that number will happen no matter who is President.
We in North Carolina can vote now and I for one do not have to see the debates to decide who to vote for, and all but about 2or 3 % have already made up their minds. Romney is not fit to govern this nation!!! I just hope when he loses he does not come around again 2016 to go against Hillary
I doubt the point was ever Kansas. It's just not enough of a deciding state to matter, and Obama is almost certainly not going to win it anyway. It was to give birthers another outlet for changing the rules elsewhere.
Can someone please explain this to me? Even "IF" Obama was born in Kenya or Mars for that matter, he's still a US citizen, is he not, since his mother was one. Are we saying if you were born to US citizens, but say you didn't make it over the Ambassador Bridge from Windsor into Detroit in time - thus born in Canada - you could not be President - legally?
There by goes the rub... the issue was settled the day he was born.
Now the taxes that's more interesting.
Just inquire with Grandpa McCain who was born in Panama.
Hi there ! We're the Republican party , please don't confuse us with logic and facts.
From Article 2 section 1 of the Constitution:
"No Person except a natural born Citizen, or a Citizen of the United States, at the time of the Adoption of this Constitution, shall be eligible to the Office of President"
Natural born means born inside the US, not just being a citizen.
The "issue" if you wish to call it that, stems from this clause in the constitution...
"No person except a natural born Citizen, or a Citizen of the United States, at the time of the Adoption of this Constitution, shall be eligible to the Office of President;"
I would presume (and I may be wrong) that birthers would like to make the legal assertion that "natural born" can only mean born within the United States, and , truth be told, there has never really been any definitive legal ruling on the issue.
Until some party presses the issue to the Supreme Court or amends the constitution then "natural born" shall continue to mean "eligible to be a citizen" which was pretty much cleared up with the 14th Amendment's first clause...
"All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside."
Of course, all of this assumes that the birther argument and sole motivation is one sincerely interested in protecting the Constitution.
Did you miss: "or a Citizen of the United States" part? Or maybe you missed the fact that Hawaii is a state not a foreign country?
Try reading the whole sentence Michael. "or a citizen of the United States, at the time of the adoption of this Constitution" That clause was solely for application in the first few decades after the adoption of the Constitution. There's no one who came to this country in 1788 alive today.
Which of course could be taken to mean that anyone not born in 1788 or before is eligible to be President...
You are totally correct ! In fact even if Obama was born overseas he would be the same as Mccain who was born in Panama and George Romney(who ran for President and lost) who was born in Mexico to American parents who left When Mormans couldn't continue plural marriage.
The GOP accuses Obama of being divisive... It like blaming blacks for slavery!
If you live in Kansas and a woman, why are you voting for any Republican, for any public office, at any level of government?
I think this speaks volumes as to the vacuum where GOPers get their info.
Say what you will about the partisan nature of MSNBC or lefty blogs - they hammer Obama and the Administration often, they're just doing it from the left. They'll accuse him of being too cozy with bankers, not pretend the birther issue is a legit one. They'll blast him for not closing Gitmo as promised while also praising him for signing the order that "got" bin Laden. They'll condemn him for his slowness in embracing same-sex marriage or working to protect children who are illegal immigrants, while still being happy that at least he got there.
To a right-winger, Obama does nothing right, 24/7. He's either wrong or really wrong. And whatever happens that is "right" happened not because of him, but in spite of him (he deserves no credit for bin Laden's death, though he would've received all the blame had the mission failed; his handling on the auto bailout was a mistake, but since it worked, it must have been because of the advice Romney gave thankyouverymuch, etc.).
Therefore, when you live in that sort of vacuum, the idea of trying to keep Obama off the ballot in Kansas, or PRETENDING you want to keep him off the ballot, probably seems like a no-brainer victory. EVERYONE agrees with you.
Except that as right-wing as Kansas might be, it's not 100% right-wing. And it's not all wing-nut. And those who represent Kansas on the national level have to answer to the rest of the nation. And the citizens of Kansas have to answer to the most withering of all critics, late night comics.
At a certain point, you get tired of being made to look like a bunch of inbred idiots, even as the opinions that you presume as your rights or freedoms are being defended. Because sometimes your opinions are rock-stupid. And announcing to the world only makes you look rock-stupid.
These lunatics don't have any idea of that you are a laughing stock of the world! I have a question for you lunatics - if you revere the constitution how come the first 5 or 6 presidents became presidents illegally, because they failed to meet the constitutional requirement that they be born in the United States. There was no United States before the the constitution was adopted.
So using your logic, Washington, Adams, Jefferson, Madison, Monroe were ineligible to be presidents, There is nothing in the constitution that gave them a special waiver.
"It's the money stupid." Kobach just scored big in campaign contributions from across the nation. And he abused his elected office to do so. (Similarly, Phred Phelps hateful little "church" draws thousands of dollars from sympathetic bigots every time his vile message airs in the national & world media.)
And by the way Rachel, Kobach didn't shut the door on future "objections,"(via this board) the law did: objections must be presented within 3 days of a candidates petition to be on the ballot. But we can each still voice our objection in working to defeat such abuses by assuring that our neighbors and friends and family and co-workers are well informed and well prepared to vote intellegently on November 6th. (and remember: REPUBLICANS vote this year on Thursday November 8th: spread the word!)
Please get this stupid woman out of my state; she isn't welcome here.
I think someone around the board mentioned to them that George Romney wasn't born in the US, and that if they proceeded on this at all they would have to accept "objections" over Mitt Rmoney's eligibility also. They REALLY didn't want to go there!
Darn! I was looking forward to having the Justice Department take over the election process in Kansas!
Go ahead and skip Kansas. The dem's do not need it to win as they are a red state. But when that tornado comes and levels your towns and you want your daddy to come running to the rescue...sorry, nobody is home buddy.
Kansas, Texas, and Oklahoma can go ahead and secede if they want, and take your damn dog Toto too!
good to hear the update, how is the ban of Romney from Washington state going?
I see that Orly tried to Taitz herself in public again, at the hearing, but was cut off from speaking after she tried to raise an objection. I'm glad this lady is not my dentist.........
Not all people in Kansas are in to conspiracy. We are not all birthers. Some (more than you might think) actually think and are appalled by what is happening in Kansas. Kobach, Brownback are the major embarrassments to be sure. But not all of us are proud of them.
kkm', you, your family, and friends can take action and send a powerful message to Kansas politicians who analyze voting stats:
Vote! A Full Democrat Ticket 2012. Change goes viral!
Friday afternoon the guy drops his complaint because he was facing "animosity". Kobach, et al still held a meeting Monday morning to consider the charge thus wasting Kansas tax dollars and maintaining media attention three more days.
Kansans must have sent Kobach's "team" a message. Go Kansas Democrats!!!