Olbermann Leaves MSNBC
This screenshot from Pam's House Blend:
Keith's statement:
There are strange things happenin' every day. It will definitely be interesting to learn the story here.
Keith's statement:
There are strange things happenin' every day. It will definitely be interesting to learn the story here.
posted by JimK at 10:53 PM
37 Comments:
Interesting that he lastly mentions Tim Russert...pity really that Olbermann will never be in that same class of journalist as the late Tim Russert was.
I remember Olbermann from when he was the sports reporter for the NBC tv affilate in Los Angeles (I grew up in Southern California). He struck me as a blow hard then, and I have seen nothing (most especially his stint on MSNBC) that has lessened the impression.
good riddance
he was an embarassment to journalism
maybe this is why he resigned:
"HONOLULU - Democratic Gov. Neil Abercrombie has abandoned efforts to dispel claims that President Barack Obama was born outside Hawaii, his office says.
State Attorney General David Louie told the governor that privacy laws bar him from disclosing an individual's birth documentation without the person's consent, Abercrombie spokeswoman Donalyn Dela Cruz said Friday.
"There is nothing more that Gov. Abercrombie can do within the law to produce a document," said Dela Cruz.
Abercrombie, who was a friend of Obama's parents and knew him as a child, launched an investigation last month to find whether the president's Aug. 4, 1961 birth happened in Hawaii. The governor said at the time he was bothered by the question.
But Abercrombie's attempt reached a dead end when Louie told him the law restricted his options.
Hawaii's unique privacy laws have long barred the release of a certified birth certificate to anyone who doesn't have a tangible interest, because many Hawaii residents were born before statehood.
Many verifiable American citizens claim Obama is ineligible to be president because they say there's no proof he was born in the United States, with many of the skeptics questioning whether he was actually born in Kenya, his father's home country.
Hawaii Health Department spokeswoman Janice Okubo said. "I can't talk about anyone's records."
Here's what I think is weird about Obama not producing his birth certificate...
He has paid over one million dollars in court costs over the issue.
So here's how my thinking goes:
Lots of people are private and would never disclose personal information like that. This makes sense to me and I have no problem whatsoever with that.
Those same people, however, don't run for president.
When you run for president, your life becomes an open book.
Obama is a Constitutional scholar, and the Constitution says that a president must be a natural born citizen of the United States. Thus, he knows that the American people have a right to verify this.
So why would a man (Obama), a man who is willing to give up privacy to be president, unwilling to do something as simple as disclose his birth certificate?
It is, at the very least, very mystifying.
I'd be fascinated to find out from anyone here, thoughts on why a man would spend over a million dollars to keep information secret that SHOULD be public.
I realize that we're all just speculating, but it's a fascinating speculation, I believe.
We arent all speculating, anon, only you.
Lots of folks are speculating.
It is very strange.
won't matter after 2012, because he will be gone gone gone.
by the widest margin of defeat, ever.
"Hawaii's unique privacy laws have long barred the release of a certified birth certificate to anyone who doesn't have a tangible interest"
I don't understand why we don't have a tangible interest in verifying that our President is constitutionally qualified for the position
how more tangible could an intangible, like a right, be?
Obama did make public his birth certificate. The birthers just say it's not a birth certificate, even though it is.
Many people claim that the earth is flat, that the moon landings were staged, that people of certain races are intrinsically more intelligent, and that some sexual orientations and gender identities are a matter of sinful choice.
Doesn't make it so.
rrjr
"Obama did make public his birth certificate. The birthers just say it's not a birth certificate, even though it is."
apparently, the governor of Hawaii says it's not real too, since he says he's given up on getting a copy
Many people claim that some sexual orientations and gender identities are not a matter of sinful choice.
Doesn't make it so.
For facts rather than speculation about Obama's American birth, read this Snoped article:
http://www.snopes.com/politics/obama/birthcertificate.asp
And here's more information about Gov. Abercrombie's desire to end speculation and conspiracy theories that abound on the right fringe:
"Record of President Obama's birth in 1961 is 'in the archives': Hawaii Gov. Neil Abercrombie
01-19-11
Officials in Hawaii have tracked down papers indicating that President Obama was indeed born in their state, according to its new governor.
Gov. Neil Abercrombie, who took office in December, told Honolulu's Star-Advertiser on Tuesday that "our investigation" indicates there is a recording of his birth.
"It actually exists in the archives, written down," he said.
The new Democratic head of the state vowed when he took office that he would do his best to end the debate over Obama's birth, which began in 2008 during the presidential campaign.
"We'll do what we can as quickly as we can to make it inevitable that only those who wish the President ill, only the ones with a political agenda, will be the ones doing this kind of thing," Abercrombie told CNN in December. "The President is entitled to the respect of his office and he's entitled to have his mother and father respected."
During that interview, Abercrombie said his goal to combat birthers was a personal one.
"It's a matter of principle with me," the 72-year-old said. "I knew his mom and dad. I was here when he was born. Anybody who wants to ask a question honestly could have had their answer already."
On Tuesday, he again promised he would do "what I can do" to publicly verify that records show Obama was born in Hawaii and is a citizen of the United States, making him eligible to be President.
Birthers insist that the President, born in 1961, is not eligible to be commander in chief. The reasons often vary, and have changed and expanded in the two years since the Internet rumor began.
Some believe his Certification of Live Birth is fake and he was really born in Kenya. Others argue that Obama is a citizen of the United Kingdom or Indonesia. Most theories have been dismissed by many in public office and the media, and have been found to be misleading or generally untrue.
However, the conspiracy theories still thrive, and according to Abercrombie, likely will continue despite whatever evidence that shows him to be a proper U.S. citizen.
"You're not going to convince those people because they have a political agenda, or they have minds that go in that kind of direction," he told CNN. "Conspiratorial theorists are never going to be satisfied. This has gone into another area of political attack."
http://www.nydailynews.com/news/politics/2011/01/19/2011-01-19_record_of_obamas_birth_is_in_the_archives_hawaii_gov.html#ixzz1Bs9McVF6"
Anonymous writes,
For facts rather than speculation about Obama's American birth, read this Snoped article:
Thank you...that a few conservatives continue on this subject in spite of all the facts (remember, a fact is something like 2+2=4) is disappointing and disturbing. President Obama is the President of the United States at this time and ought to be respected as such even if we vehemently disagree with every last one of his evolving opinions.
But that doesn't answer the question, Orin. Why would the man spend over one million dollars to keep his birth certificate away from the public, who have every right to see it?
how do you figure the public has a right to see it?
If the public has no proof of citizenship, then how do we know that a president is a natural born citizen, as the Constitution requires?
Does it not strike anyone here as even a little bit strange that a president won't release his birth certificate?
1. I have never heard of any president releasing any birth certificate
2. What are you gonna do if he was born on the moon? Take it all back? He's been president for two years already, you can't undo that.
1. When asked to do so, a president should be able to produce a birth certificate.
2. What would I do if Obama wasn't born in the US? I wouldn't vote for him again.
Dozens of lawmakers are eager to appear bipartisan during this year's State of the Union, if only for a few hours. They range from New York Reps. Anthony Weiner, a Democrat, and Peter King, a Republican, whose wife called the duo the "biggest loudmouths" in the House, to the bipartisan Congressional Women's Softball Team.
Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.) will attend with Sen. John Thune (R-S.D), while Sens. Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) and Tom Coburn (R-Okla.) will become an item for the night.
"I think if Coburn and Schumer can sit next to each other, then probably just about everybody can," Schumer said on CBS' "Face the Nation."
Intra-state Senate duos include Florida's Bill Nelson, a two-term Democrat, and Marco Rubio, a GOP freshman and tea party darling. "I know it's important to me and to Marco that the two of us have the basis of a personal friendship, and that's always been the tradition of the two senators from Florida," Nelson told Politics Daily.
Pennsylvania Sen. Bob Casey, a Democrat will sit with freshman Republican Sen. Pat Toomey.
Ditto for the Illinois twosome, Democrat Dick Durbin and GOP newcomer Mark Kirk.
Moreover, Rep. Joe Wilson (R-S.C.) promises to behave Tuesday night; last year he yelled "You lie!" at Obama in midspeech. No indicator yet who'll be next to him.
"When asked to do so, a president should be able to produce a birth certificate."
When asked to by who? You?
And I don't think it's going to hurt him too bad if you don't not-vote for him again in the next election.
When asked by who?
ho ho
Any man with any honor would show his birth certificate to any citizen who asks.
But Obama? He's hoping that the courts will protect him on this issue, which they are. The courts keep dismissing lawsuits because the person bringing the suit (e.g., Democrat Philip Berg) doesn't have "standing."
So one day, perhaps the courts will decide that someone has "standing."
When that day comes, I'll look forward to seeing the birth certificate.
Obama could end this by getting a copy, which is his right, and making it public
there's obviously something to hide
if not country, maybe his parents aren't who he says
we never had a situation like this before
if it turns out he isn't qualified, he'll hopefully resign
if not, he'll be impeached
Orin, you're loco
Why would he care to "end this?" All "this" does is make rightwing paranoids like you look even crazier.
Oh brother. Look who is using personal attacks, again. You really need to get with the new civility, Anon. You are making your side look bad with your reliance on conspiracy theories and personal attacks, even on your fellow conservatives like Orin.
I suggest you go see if you can find and show us a reputable news source that supports your contention that President Obama "has paid over one million dollars in court costs" over the issue of his birth certificate.
Google shows the World Net Daily has reported President Obama *may* [emphasis added] be using campaign funds to stomp out eligibility lawsuits in a 2009 article they published.
However, Wikipedia reports:
"World Net Daily: Barack Obama citizenship conspiracy theories
WorldNetDaily has emerged as a leading outlet publicizing claims about Barack Obama's citizenship status, claiming that President Obama is not a natural-born citizen and is thus not eligible to serve as president. Such claims are considered unsubstantiated or unreliable by most news sources. After the 2008 presidential campaign, WND began an online petition to have Obama's Hawaiian birth certificate released to the public. The website also unsuccessfully urged Supreme Court justices to hear several lawsuits aiming to release Obama's birth certificate. In May 2009, WND began collecting money to erect billboards asking, "Where's the Birth Certificate?", the first three of which appeared in Louisiana, Pennsylvania, and Los Angeles. Several WND commentators have written columns demanding that the birth certificate be released, including Farah; Corsi; Christian TV host Hal Lindsey; Faith and Values Coalition co-chair Janet Porter and talk radio host Barbara Simpson.
In an August 23, 2008, article about one of the lawsuits, WND reported it had investigated FactCheck.org's proffered image of the "Obama Birth Certificate" utilizing forgery experts and "found the document to be authentic." On December 20, 2008, in a WND column, Joseph Farah claimed that an examination of the original Obama Campaign proffered image by forgery experts could not "report conclusively that the electronic image was authentic or that it was a forgery." After MSNBC's Keith Olbermann named Farah the "Worst Person in the World" on his show, Countdown, for his alleged reversal, Farah defended himself, claiming, "the veracity of that image was never the major issue of contention. Rather, the major issue is where is the rest of the birth certificate – the part that explains where the baby was born, who the delivery doctor was, etc...I can tell you WND has done its part to find out the truth." "
Any man with any honor would show his birth certificate to any citizen who asks.
OK Anon, prove that's true and show us how honorable you are.
Show us your birth certificate.
This citizen wants to see it.
I had no idea anon-B had been released from the looney bin
I disagreed with Orin's words about how it's disrespecting Obamo to question whether he was born in the U.S. when he has a father who wasn't a U.S. citizen, a grandmother who says she saw him born in Kenya and a claimed home state whose sympathetic-to-O governor can't get access to his alleged birth certificate. Given the constitutional question involved, it's not unreasonable to suggest that Obomo clear up dounts and release the certificate. So, I jokingly called Orin "loco" for taking such a position.
I have a feeling he'll survive this vicious personal attack.
Although, if any of you are concerned you could always send him some flowers and candy. I hear the stores have lots of that kind of stuff right now.
"Why would he care to "end this?" All "this" does is make rightwing paranoids like you look even crazier."
So, you think Obama is just playing us, uh?
Kinda backfired on him when you consider that considerable portions of the electorate actually believe he is a foreign Muslim.
Yesterday was an interesting one in the Post punditry.
Dana Milbank confessed in print that he is obsessed with Sarah Palin, having written over 40 columns on her in the last two years. He's proposing that all political commentators observe a moratorium on mentioning her for the whole month of February.
This liberal shares with his fellow liberals a misimpression that they were successful in their attempt to pin the Gifford shooting on Palin's rhetoric and they'd like to freeze that impressions and consolidate their supposed gains.
Unfortunately for them, the backlash against that view had already gelled many days ago. Even the anti-Palin apologist for the old guard mainstream Republican Party, Kathleen Parker, had a column yesterday defending Palin's rhetoric and naming those who tried to make her an accomplice to a lunatic as bad for our democracy.
Also, George Will had a terrific column pointing out how anti-authority liberalism has always been at the heart of our democracy. And the worst mainfestation of power has always been considered government.
Unfortunately, liberalism in the last half of the 20th century replaced its commitment to individual liberty with statism, and, thus ceased to be viable.
We are currently in American history's fifth "period of creedal passion." The first four: 1770s, 1830s, 1900-1920, 1960s.
Sarah Palin and The Tea Party has brought us to our fifth era of creedal passion. If history is any guide, this period is only beginning.
Citizen,
I had said earlier that a private, or public, person has every right to keep their birth certificate private.
However, a president does not have that right -- he needs to prove that he's eligible to become president.
He is the president of the people, and any honorable man {who is president} would show the certificate to any citizen on the street. When you become president, you become a person of the people, and a simple request like that should be honored.
The political action committee 'Obama for America' paid $1,066,691.90 to the Perkins Coie law firm between Oct. 16, 2008 and March 30, 2009, to fight every request to release Obama's original birth records.
How much money did WND spend pursuing their frivolous lawsuits against Obama?
As Aunt Bea documented, even the paranoids over at WND qualified their statement on the money spent at Perkins Cole with "may." What makes you so sure all that money went for only the "birther" issue? Could it be the voices in your head?
That amount is easy to figure out, and even easier if you have a figure, like the PAC figure to start with. You just back out of the equation.
Simply gather all of the lawsuits and verify the law firm. If it's Cole Porter, then you estimate how much time a law firm would spend on a suit like that. You then figure out how much time an associate would spend, and how much time a partner in the firm would spend. Law firm billing rates are easy to obtain. A partner in a top firm can make $800 per hour -- associates less than that.
It doesn't take a rocket scientist.
Any lawyer could figure it out within an hour.
Bad anonymous said "I had said earlier that a private, or public, person has every right to keep their birth certificate private.".
You also said "ANY man with any honor would show his birth certificate to ANY citizen who asks.".
By your own standards you're not a man with honour.
Rolling my eyes at Priya.
I explained what I said and you know it.
Just to clarify what I have written...I think the Office of the President ought to be respected; I thought it when George W. Bush was President and those suffering from DBS (Deranged Bush Syndrome) called him all manner of names and questioned the legitimacy of his election in 2000...and I think that now that Barack Obama is President and those suffering from DOS (Deranged Obama Syndrome) are questioning his citizenship. Enough already...
And Anon writes,
Given the constitutional question involved, it's not unreasonable to suggest that Obomo clear up dounts and release the certificate. So, I jokingly called Orin "loco" for taking such a position.
I have a feeling he'll survive this vicious personal attack.
If there is any section of the US Constitution that could use updating I think it would be the part about Natural Born Citizen; I think it is high time to change that to Naturalized Citizen for not less than 20 years.
I think the constitutional question is not really a question at all, rather it is a political argument in lieu of a legal one.
And yes, I have a fairly thick skin...there are a few people who I care about their opinion of me...my wife, my best friend, my work lunch buddy, my father and my two oldest siblings. If I count correctly that is six people.
Orin,
I agree with you -- I wouldn't mind the updating of that part of the Constitution.
But UNTIL the change is made to the Constitution, people must abide by it. And, AFTER that change to 20 years (as you suggested) was made, candidates would still need to abide by it.
There are many people who might have run for president but knew they couldn't because they didn't meet the residency requirements.
Were those people deranged for NOT abiding by the Constitution? Or are the deranged ones only the ones who want the Constitution to be abided by?
If there were no Constitutional requirement for natural born citizenship and people were calling for Obama to prove his citizenship --- THAT would be deranged. It wouldn't have any basis.
As it stands, the Constitutional question is very valid, and to call people deranged because they treat it as valid...well that's just mean spirited.
Oops -- I had rewritten one of the sentences and so it doesn't make sense. I meant, in the post above, are the ones who abided by the Constitution deranged for abiding by it?
Orin, I still think you're loco for saying that questioning Obama's citizenship is dissing him
we always hold power accountable in America so he owes it to us to clear this up
besides, it's possible he's unaware of the circumstances himself
I do agree with you, however, that the "natural-born" requirement is long outdated and should be changed
those born other places but who are committed to our ideals belong here among us
more than any other place, America is an ideal and not a locale
Glad Priya is back so she can see that she was wrong about Mr Yes-we-can.
Barry has now seen the error of his ways and hearkened last night to American exceptionalism.
Will you, Priya, now accept that America is a superior nation with a privileged place in the world?
Supreme Court won't review Obama's eligibility to serve
Updated 12/8/2008 6:25 PM
"WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court has turned down an emergency appeal from a New Jersey man who says President-elect Barack Obama is ineligible to be president because he was a British subject at birth.
The court did not comment on its order Monday rejecting the call by Leo Donofrio of East Brunswick, N.J., to intervene in the presidential election.
Donofrio says that since Obama had dual nationality at birth — his mother was American and his Kenyan father at the time was a British subject — he cannot possibly be a "natural born citizen," one of the requirements the Constitution lists for eligibility to be president.
Donofrio also contends that two other candidates, Republican John McCain and Socialist Workers candidate Roger Calero, also are not natural-born citizens and thus ineligible to be president.
At least one other appeal over Obama's citizenship remains at the court. Philip J. Berg of Lafayette Hill, Pa., argues that Obama was born in Kenya, not Hawaii as Obama says and Hawaii officials have confirmed.
Berg says Obama also may be a citizen of Indonesia, where he lived as a boy. Federal courts in Pennsylvania have dismissed Berg's lawsuit. Federal courts in Ohio and Washington state have rejected similar lawsuits.
Allegations raised on the Internet say the birth certificate, showing that Obama was born in Hawaii on Aug. 4, 1961, is a fake.
But Hawaii Health Department Director Dr. Chiyome Fukino and the state's registrar of vital statistics, Alvin Onaka, say they checked health department records and have determined there's no doubt Obama was born in Hawaii.
The nonpartisan website Factcheck.org examined the original document and said it does have a raised seal and the usual evidence of a genuine document.
In addition, Factcheck.org reproduced an announcement of Obama's birth, including his parents' address in Honolulu, that was published in the Honolulu Advertiser on Aug. 13, 1961."
Berg v. Obama
Berg filed a petition for a writ of certiorari before judgment in the United States Supreme Court. On December 10, 2008, the Supreme Court denied Berg's request for an injunction against the seating of the Electoral College, scheduled for December 15. On December 15, 2008, the petitioner refiled the application for injunction. Two days later, Berg's appeal was denied without comment by Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy. Berg's previously denied request for an injunction was refiled with Justice Antonin Scalia on December 18, 2008. On January 12, the Supreme Court denied the petition for certiorari. The application for stay addressed to Justice Scalia and referred to the Court was also summarily denied on January 21, 2009.
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