When Becky and I lived in Knoxville, we resided in the heavily Republican 18th legislative district of Tennessee, a.k.a. “the fightin’ 18th,” which is represented by the ultraconservative — and endlessly controversial — Stacey Campfield (who is a man).
Campfield is many things: a blogger (albeit a somewhat notoriously sloppy one, in terms of spelling and grammar); a classic car enthusiast; a tall redhead; and a lightning rod for attention, criticism and controversy.
He has made a name for himself, for better or worse, by proposing a variety of headline-grabbing initiatives, usually related to hot-button social issues, usually with no chance of passing, but always with an excellent chance of getting Campfield some press. For instance, he once proposed a bill requiring death certificates for aborted fetuses, and he’s recently been in the news for introducing the so-called “Don’t Say Gay” bill, which would essentially ban discussion of homosexuality in public schools.
Campfield was also photographed on Election Day 2008 with Loyette. And yes, I do think that’s the proper way to characterize it: not that my seven-month-old was photographed with a local politician, but rather that Rep. Campfield was graced with the opportunity to be photographed with my adorable daughter. 🙂
Anyway, to all these other adjectives describing Campfield — blogger, provocateur, baby-charmer — we can add another: birther.
This is actually not news; the above-linked article (about Campfield’s role as a plaintiff in one of the lawsuits challenging President Obama’s eligibility to be president) is from February, but I somehow stumbled on it for the first time yesterday. I found it amid all the renewed MSM attention to the “birther” movement, notably this MSNBC segment:
Anyway, yeah, it turns out my former state representative is one of those GOP wingnuts, like the lady in the video and the dozens applauding her, who think it’s productive to spend their time worrying about whether Barack Obama — or “Barry Soetoro,” as the crazies, including Campfield, like to call him — was really born in this country. Which, by the way, his birth certificate makes clear he was.
Ah, I’m so proud to be an ex-constituent of Rep. Campfield. Emphasis on “ex.”
P.S. Interestingly, the two most prominent policitians Loyette has met are perhaps the right-wingiest representative in the Tennessee House (Campfield) and perhaps the right-wingiest senator in the United States Senate (James Inhofe). Heh. Is that girl destined to be a conservative, or what?
you can’t really be serious. you seriously think it takes an extremist to want proof that the President of the United States of America was in fact born in the United States of America and is therefore not constitutionally ineligible to be the President of the United States of America? Sure, there are some other inexcusable allegations related to the broad issue of Obama’s history coming from some true extremists, and many liberals are using those allegations to label the entire “birther” group a bunch of wingnuts… but hey, Obama’s got some close friends who are even more extreme on the other side, so it’s a bit dangerous for a liberal to go down that road of tying everyone together when only a select few are being unreasonable.
there were Congressional hearings held on the topic of whether McCain was eligible to be President. yet Obama can’t even spend a couple minutes on the phone giving permission to the state of Hawaii to release REAL proof that he was in fact born there. just like most other people, you so easily accept as proof some document that Hawaiian officials have stated on more than one occasion can be and has been given to someone NOT born in Hawaii or even anywhere in the US. how did this “short-form” COLB get released? Obama gave them permission. so why does he spend so much time and hundreds of thousands of dollars fighting the “smears” when all he has to do is give them permission to release the meaningful “long-form” document (which at least 1 Hawaiian official has said they can’t release unless Obama gives them permission)? Why is it that nobody can know the hospital where he was born or doctor/midwife who delivered him? It’s widely known that the only thing parents needed to do in order to get the “short-form” COLB is claim that their child was born in Hawaii by the child’s first birthday.
This is NOT an unreasonable request, especially when the only living individuals who claim to have been present during his birth are his paternal relatives in Kenya, who have stated that he was born in Kenya. maybe that’s a lie, but when that’s all we’ve got to go on, i’d say it’s a good idea to get proof that they’re wrong.
Then we’ve got morons like Stewart turning the entire idea into some complicated impossible long-running agenda by Obama’s father. they claim that a couple newspaper announcements are proof of his birth in Hawaii. i can understand why he might do it… he makes money off doing things like that… although i wouldn’t be surprised if he actually believes what he says. the papers have repeatedly said that they print the announcement from what they get from the DOH… so if the department of health registered a COLB on August 8, 1961 (as is stated on the widely viewed Certification of Live Birth), then of course the newspaper announcement will be made. claiming that the newspaper announcement is FURTHER proof beyond the COLB is simply redundant. from this, unreasonable people come to the conclusion that the only reason someone would want the records to show that their child (who wasn’t born in the US) actually was born in the US is to eventually become POTUS. however, a reasonable person can think of many other reasons why someone might want their child to have the native-born American status… look at how many Mexicans (and others) try to do it! i guess all of them must be trying to make it so their child can be President in 50 years. Seriously! use your brains people!
Also, the neighbor of the address listed in the newspaper announcements was asked about it (she’s been a neighbor of that address since before 1961, i might add), and she doesn’t have any recollection of him being born or of the next door neighbor having a black child to a white mother.
Look, all of these claims the he wasn’t born in Hawaii could very well be false. I’m not claiming that he wasn’t born in Hawaii, and neither are MOST people asking for real proof. All I’m asking for is that Obama give the state of Hawaii permission to release the “long-form” Certificate of Live Birth that would’ve been required to have been produced upon his birth… the one that includes the vital information, including the doctor/midwife and the hospital, among other things. It’s not an unreasonable request.
and for some quick entertainment, read about the Apollo 11 astronauts’ visit to the Oval Office with Obama (see link below).
http://www.wnd.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=104703
Why on earth is this long form certificate needed? The US State Department says that the short form version is all that is needed to prove citizenship: thus, this is more than enough proof for any rational person that Obama is a natural born citizen. Nothing more is required – the case is closed, as far as I am concerned.
no, a rational person does not just take a government agency’s word for granted. certainly many liberals think government agencies are best for deciding what is truth or what is best for individuals… but a rational person does not do this. the long-form certificate should be required by anyone seeking a position that requires not only citizenship but NATURAL-BORN citizenship… but even if you disagree with that, the specific details surrounding the proof of birth status for Obama provide more than enough reason to want more than just the short form. you ask “why?” go back and read my original comment… there are several legitimate reasons why.
Obama provided his birth certificate, thats all that needed to happen. The birthers are doing what the far right always does, they use fear and mis-information to try and scare people into hating and doubting things, rather than provide a message of their own to follow. Why? Because they have nothing to offer
no, a rational person does not just take a government agency’s word for granted.
No, obviously a rational person continues to move the goalposts and demand access to a form that cannot be legally released (due to Hawaii Revised Statutes §338-18, which prohibits its release to “persons who do not have a tangible interest in the vital record”) because there are demonstrably false claims that the short-form is forged, a neighbor can’t remember something from 48 years ago, and some WHARRGARBL about Mexicans?
Sounds reasonable. Never mind that the Hawaii DOH has certified the birth, the presented form meets all US State requirements for demonstration of citizenship, and the US courts (including the Supreme Court) have repeatedly dismissed litigation barking up this tree.
I’m not a socialist, either, but these continuing arguments are as laughably fatuous as those BS moonbat lefty claims that Trig wasn’t Sarah Palin’s baby
The birthers are doing what the far right always does, they use fear and mis-information to try and scare people into hating and doubting things…
David, you know that the far-right isn’t the only group that does this, right? What was that old line about a speck in your brother’s eye…?
The birther claims are absurd on their face, but painting this as a far-right-only behavior is not something you wanna do (…if I recall, some of these allegations may have been voiced by supporters of other Dem. candidates during the Dem. primaries). In any case, fear and mis-information are used commonly accross the polical compass.
As far as I can tell there is not a shred of proof that has been provided by the “he wasn’t born in the US” camp that would warrant any future response from Obama beyond the document that he has already provided. The evidence required for that would be that the document was obtained under false pretenses.
While we are on the subject, not all birth certificates heave the signature of doctor not everyone is born is a hospital. Those deficiencies if the actually even exist are not actually proof of anything. The Constitutions does not require that you were born in a hospital in the United States. The burden is on those that are making the charge that there is any credible evidence to support it. I don’t recall the birth place of a President ever having to be demonstrated any more clearly than Obama already has. And there have been holes you could drive a truck through in terms of assuring that someone was a natural born citizen for the great majority of this nations history.
As far as I’m concerned unless there is any reasonable evidence to the contrary this issue is completely closed. And anyone that continues to ring this bell without further evidence is a wing nut not to be listened to on any issue. And further is doing something of deeply questionable ethical quality.