Judge soundly rejects Ga. birther claims
Judge soundly rejects Ga. birther claims
5:25 pm February 3, 2012, by Jay
Deputy Chief Judge Michael Malihi has rendered his judgment, breaking birther hearts all over the country: Barack Obama will remain on the 2012 primary and general election ballot in Georgia.
The judge’s written opinion all but drips with scorn for the absurd case presented to him by Orly Taitz and her colleagues:
“The Court finds the testimony of the witnesses, as well as the exhibits tendered, to be of little, if any, probative value, and thus wholly insufficient to support plaintiffs’ allegations…. None of the testifying witnesses offered persuasive testimony. Moreover, the Court finds that none of the written submissions tendered by plaintiffs have probative value. Given the unsatisfactory evidence presented by the plaintiffs, the court concludes the plaintiffs’ claims are not persuasive.”
In other words, the birthers finally got a judge to listen to their “evidence,” and even with no opposing counsel in the courtroom, the judge concluded that their case was total and complete bunk.
Judge soundly rejects Ga. birther claims | Jay Bookman
Newt Gingrich Dismisses Birther Question From Orly Taitz
Newt Gingrich Dismisses Birther Question From Orly Taitz
First Posted: 02/14/2012 12:50 pm Updated: 02/14/2012 2:21 pm
Orly Taitz took her anti-Obama birther crusade to GOP presidential candidate Newt Gingrich on Monday, only to come up empty-handed. Again.
At a campaign event in Pasadena, Calif., Gingrich took questions after delivering a stump speech blasting, among other things, "President Obama's war on the Catholic Church" and the U.S. Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, which recently overturned California's same-sex marriage ban.
After answering concerns about the state of his campaign following a slide in recent polls and primary contests, Taitz came forward, suggesting that the birther issue could provide a "boost" to his candidacy if he made it a hallmark issue.
"Somebody who wouldn't be good enough, who wouldn't be certified to pick tomatoes or clean bathrooms is sitting in the White House," Taitz told Gingrich, reportedly to a mixed reception from the largely Tea Party audience.
"That's a project you should pursue," Gingrich responded. He went on to say that with ongoing economic issues and other mismanagement he saw in the president's agenda, he had "enough issues to debate Obama about."
Taitz, a California attorney and dentist, is one of the most outspoken members of the birther movement, whose adherents claim that Obama is ineligible to serve as president because he isn't actually a U.S. citizen. (In fact, the White House has released the president's long-form birth certificate, in hopes of quelling the conspiracy theories.) Taitz, who specifically believes that the president has forged his official documents, made something of a stir in Georgia last month when a judge subpoenaed Obama in a case her clients had filed attempting to bar Obama from the state's primary ballot. Obama's legal team ignored the judge's order, however, and the case proceeded without him. It was eventually dismissed by the judge, who determined that Obama was eligible to be on Georgia's primary ballot in March.
Newt Gingrich Dismisses Birther Question From Orly Taitz
Committee votes down birther bill
Committee votes down birther bill
14-3 vote suggests House kill proposal
By Matthew Spolar / Monitor staff
February 15, 2012
Deterred by the "circus" surrounding the issue, a requirement that presidential candidates submit certified copies of their birth certificates was panned in the House Election Law Committee yesterday.
House Bill 1164 was sponsored by Republican Reps. Susan DeLemus of Rochester and Larry Rappaport of Colebrook, both of whom signed on to an effort last year to challenge President Obama's placement on the primary ballot because they doubt his Americancitizenship.
DeLemus said her bill does not take effect until January 2013, meaning it is not another attempt to keep Obama off the November ballot. The legislation initially required a certified copy of a candidate's original long-form birth certificate, but DeLemus said an amendment adopted yesterday reduced the requirement to a certified copy of a birthcertificate.
Still, the committee voted 14-3 to recommend the full House kill the bill when it comes up for a vote on the floor.
"If this is to be considered at a future time, it could be considered on the basis of its merits alone and not any association with the controversy we've experienced," said Election Law Chairman David Bates, a Windham Republican, who voted against the bill. "Quite frankly, with the circus that ensued around this more recently it's really impossible to adequately, objectively consider the policy merits of this with the fiasco the press made out of it."
In November, Attorney General Michael Delaney requested an investigation into "unruly" conduct by DeLemus and other Republican representatives after the state ballot law commission denied their appeal of Obama's primary eligibility.
Assistant Attorney General Matt Mavrogeorge said he and Assistant Secretary of State Karen Ladd locked themselves in an office in the Legislative Office Building out of fear for their safety.
Rep. David Pierce of Etna, the ranking Democrat on the committee, said he had concerns that requiring a birth certificate could disenfranchise citizens who don't have the document for various reasons, such as being born in a remote location or into a family that objects to birth certificates for religious reasons.
Pierce said the November incident also weighed on his decision.
"Voting for that, I think, would only encourage criminal activity like that," Pierce said. "I think it was criminal what they did."
Rep. Al Baldasaro, a Londonderry Republican, was one of the committee votes in favor of the bill. Baldasaro was one of the representatives named in Mavrogeorge's report upset about the decision to allow Obama on the ballot.
"It's no secret, of course, I was on board with some areas in the past with people coming into our state without any type of birth certificate," Baldasaro told the committee. "I just want to make sure you know this isn't for any political gain this year because it wouldn't go in until after the election."
DeLemus said she was unaware until she challenged Obama's citizenship that "there's no vehicle to uphold the requirements found in the Constitution" that a presidential candidate be a natural-born citizen.
"It's to shore up the Constitution and make sure we're sticking to the Constitution - that's the purpose of the bill," DeLemus said.
DeLemus said she knew the bill wouldn't be popular.
"It's so controversial, I think a lot of people shied away from it," she said.
(Matthew Spolar can be reached at 369-3309 or at mspolar@cmonitor.com)
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