Breaking: GOP Rep McHenry Has Absolutely No Doubt Whatsoever That Obama Was Born In U.S.
Okay, whatever you read this morning, GOP Rep. Patrick McHenry is not a birther in any way, shape or form. His spokesperson tells me that McHenry has no doubt whatsoever that Obama was born in the U.S. and is legitimately president.
After McHenry’s office denied a report claiming he’d said he hadn’t seen enough evidence either way of Obama’s citizenship, a number of you pointed out that his clarifying statement had still left wiggle room on the birther question. As David Kurtz put it, McHenry had one foot on the “birther train” and “one still on the platform.”
I asked McHenry’s spokesman Brock McLeary:
Does Rep. McHenry have any question at all about whether Obama was born in the United States, and does he have any question at all about Obama’s legitimacy as President?
McLeary promptly emailed back:
The answers to your questions are: No and No.
I guess that puts McHenry firmly on the platform, waving as the birther train heads into the distance towards the edge of a cliff on the horizon…
This blog’s homepage is here. RSS feed here. Twitter feed here. Email me here.
Good job Greg! You have him on the record now uncategorically denying that the birthers are dead wrong.
Hah! You rock.
I screwed that up – you have him on the record denying that they are right.
d’oh.
Next, lets get all these bozo GOP reps to send out a blast email to all those signed up to receive email from them to acknowledge the same.
Here’s the thing. Until each and every one of them is pressed they would let these rumors spread without ever challenging them because they know the more people think there is no way in hell they could every trust Obama is one less person they have to worry about switching parties.
Be it the birther conspiracies, pulling the plug on Grandma or a super sekret plot to put the Govn’t between you and your doctor, the goal is the same. Make people hate Obama and not trust him one bit.
At least I see a push back now from the networks on all the fabrications out there. CNN is doing nightly fact checks on the misinformation. I saw ABC will be running one during the evening news. Morning shows are now running them. Heck, even Joe Scarburough cringed at Chuck Grassley from Iowa on the pulling the plug on grandmother line and had to laugh at him and insinuated it might be payback for Obama suggesting it might be time to move along without Republicans.
John McCain was born in Panama at a time when such births were not legally American Citizens. Did not bother the birthers one bit. Of course we know that it did not bother them one bit, because his white skin offset his not have been born in the USA.
“Be it the birther conspiracies, pulling the plug on Grandma or a super sekret plot to put the Govn’t between you and your doctor, the goal is the same. Make people hate Obama and not trust him one bit.”
That’s entire goal and I was naive enough to not get that at first. They know a reform bill will pass; therefore, they know that they have stirred up a hatred that will just be cemented when a bill passes.
I find this utterly nihilistic and the most deadly cynical thing I’ve seen yet in American politics.
It is time for Obama to “pull the plug” on working with Republicans. McCain voted against Sotomayor, the first time he has ever voted against an Supreme Court nominee, and then went on TV to whine about how Obama has not been bipartisan.
It is clear from what the GOP did to Senator Spector, that if you do not toe the line, and oppose all proposals from President Obama, you will be driven out of the party.
That is why Senator Grassley caved in, and started mouthing the “eutanasia panel” big lie.
Time to pull the plug on trying to work with any of them, Mr. President.
Time for you to show less velvet glove, and much more iron fist.
They are against you, and will not compromise, so push the bills through. Give the Democrats in the House and Senate their marching orders.
The Republicans are viewing your willingness to reach out, as a sign of weakness, and they believe that you can be rolled. Well can you be? Do you want to be the next Jimmy Carter.
Time to take off the Velvet Gloves, Mr. President.
I’d like to see video fo the event to see what exactly he said while there. If he’s talking out of both sides of his mouth – like McHenry likes to do – he probably did leave the impression that he’s not sure, when he was talking to his base. He likes to keep htem riled up. But when the MSM comes to call him on that, of course he denies he’s a birther. He knows none of his base read Greg’s column anyway.
Liam- I wouldn’t worry about President Obama’s Velvet Gloves; they seem to get most of the jobs he sets out to do done.
@Greg: Awesome, thanks!
It kind of makes me want to follow up by saying (condensendingly) “Now that you’ve said it Rep. McHenry…was it really THAT hard to admit Obama is President?”
But that might be a bit too much to ask of ya.
Thanks again.
Ok, here’s the weird psychological affect all of this has had on me – I honestly don’t believe Barack Obama can be rolled. But there’s so much yelling going on from all sides- the left never shuts up either – viz: Arianna’s headline – she never fails; she’s turning into Drudge, but that’s another story – have got me almost doubting Obama.
And I tell y’all what, I went through this 50 times during the campaign and he never got rolled.
@Angela,
As Tena can tell you, I have been an Obama supporter, from the very beginning, even when he was way behind in Iowa.
He is now the Alpha male. He needs to project more of that.
He is being pushed around, and being put on the defensive, by having to keep on reacting to all those wild claims, such as the “death panels” nonsense.
I say it is time for him to take complete charge of the party, call in the key leaders from the house and Senate, draft a final bill, shove it through the congress, and then use the reconciliation process to avoid a Senate filibuster.
Republicans are not going to help us, so to hell with them. Time for the President to put the pedal to the metal, and get the bill passed.
That is the only way it will get enacted anyway, so why continue to play footsies with the Republicans. They will leave him standing at the altar, so he should just move on without them.
A country likes a strong, take action leader. Now is a pivotal time. The Republicans know it, and they are going all out for blood.
Remember, they pushed all their legislation through without courting our side, so they can not complain if we play from the rule book that they wrote.
Every time I think of people getting panicky about Obama not hitting back hard enough I think of THIS picture.
Half Baked Alaskan to the rescue. Yup! YuP, YOu becha!!!
Palin stands by her death panel claims.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/politico/20090813/pl_politico/26078
mike from Arlington – you just barely beat me to posting that. I’ve had that on my screen since the campaign and I must have posted it at TPM 100 times or more.
“Palin stands by her death panel claims.
If Sarah Palin herself, with no help, wrote that statement, I’m Marie, the Queen of Romania. The statement is too clever by half – it’s a very nice Repug job of turning facts inside out and there’s no way she could have come up with that.
just popped in to say Great Job on the pushback Greg, if only more reporters asked followups!
@Tena
You are right, my mind keeps blaming this on the President (why doesn’t he kick these ******** to the curb, they aren’t playing nice and keep kicking the ball over the fence whenever we start playing with them) but I keep forgetting, they did all this during the campaign and he beat them badly, even with Caribou Barbie on the other team embodying all of their hopes and dreams and firing them up.
Jon Stewart is right though; thank god for the screamers or else we’d all notice how unprepared for governing the Dems are.
How does the WH not understand that not only are the Town Hellions uninformed loons, but the fact that they appear to be winning the argument over health care reform with their unhinged rantings demoralizes his left flank? How does the party think it’s going to raise money and get campaign volunteers if they fold to the Republicans on something huge like this? I appreciate the Ledbetter Act and the weak-tea Credit Card Reform, but that’s not enough to get me out knocking on doors trumpeting fair pay for ladies and far-off into the distance credit card reform to Georgia birthers up in North Atlanta to convince them to vote for Dem candidates…
And thanks guys for the picture from the Convention, I do indeed need to “Chill the F Out”…
Who really believes that the Republicans are going to help enact a sensible health care reform bill, that would rein in the Robber Barons of the Insurance cabal?
I do not, so that is why I see no further point for us to be delaying, and letting the Republicans continue to spread Big Lies. We should have pushed it through before the August recess. The Republicans want to stall, and they see that Obama not getting his August deadline as a victory for them, They know that the budget news, that came out yesterday, and all similar news for the remainder of the year, will give them further ammo to use against the legislation.
There is nothing to gain by waiting, and everything to lose. We did not strike while the iron was hot. Now we are going to have to restoke the fire. We better just get on with the job. Every day that passes is another day that the Republicans put in their column.
How does a majority party enact legislation.
By writing it, and then pushing it through. If the polls turn against it, are we going to abandon it, or is it something that we must do anyway. If it is,then let us stop wasting time, and just do it.
The shortest distance between two points is a straight line, and the most certain way to end up in a dead end, is keep counting on getting a lift from Republicans.
However, in the Senate they don’t now have the votes for cloture. I also can’t imagine the Dems. doing anything about the filibuster rules because they won’t want to deny themselves possible future use of the same.
(Kennedy’s mostly too ill to vote.)
“We better just get on with the job. Every day that passes is another day that the Republicans put in their column.”
Congress is in recess.
@oddjob,
The Republicans pushed stuff through, without cloture, when they were in charge. That has not stopped them from filibustering now. Why should we reward them by letting them run roughshod over the cloture rules, when they were in charge, and now allow them to make full use of it.
To hell with that. What the hell would we be preserving a future right for, that the Republicans did not honor anyway. When they return to power, since they got away with it the last time, they will do it again, so we would be preserving nothing.
@Tena,
Call them back. The are getting no where with those absurd townhall meetings, except providing lots of free TV access to Astroturfers, and addled Morons.
If my man Ted were healthy, we would have passed it by the August deadline.
Time to get it done.
We’ll see what he says at his next town hall. Until he’s not a birther, however.
Any debate about the future of this country should first begin with the basis that President Obama is not a citizen who also wants to setup “death panels” to kill your grandma. From there, all serious debates can begin.
Liam, if you think you can get Harry Reid to call the Senate back, good luck with that.
Pelosi might do it, but Harry Reid? Never.
@oddjob:
They do have the votes for cloture. You make some minor backroom deals to say “we’ll support this for you if you vote for cloture” and then remind them that there is no way in h*** that any Democrat gets re-elected if they stand with a Republican filibuster on Health Care Reform. Carrot and Stick. Conservatives can save face by saying that got some consessions – but still vote for cloture, then against the bill if they have to (final vote only needs 50).
Sen. Kennedy will be at the vote unless something very, very serious happens (heaven forbid). Sen. Bryd is still able to make votes now and again. Using those two as an excuse is cowardly and pathetic on Dem’s part. If anything, it’s an incentive to ram the bill thorugh – the sooner you have the vote, the less there is for something to take a turn for the worse.
And I agree, fillibuster isn’t going anywhere.
“(Kennedy’s mostly too ill to vote.)”
He’ll be there to vote on healthcare, dhickhead.
@oddjob:
Clarification: “Conservatives can save face by saying…”
I meant “ConservaDems”.
Great work, Greg. It’s just too bad that McHenry could not be so definitive when asked to his face by the birthers themselves. I guess he didn’t want to suffer the consequences of the mob he and his fellow Repubs have ginned up for so long.
@Tena,
The President is the one who should call them back. Let us see Reid defy him. Time to make the donuts, we are justing wasting time providing media coverage to clusters of people who are completely opposed to any reform.
Let us get a good bill written and enacted, and then go on townhall meetings to spell out how great it is. Right now we are playing catcher, instead of putting ourself in a position to take the mound, and be the one firing the ball.
What is it we are waiting for. Do we expect the Republicans to suddenly have a Road to Damascus moment.
Wooing Republicans, on this issue, is like a dog chasing it’s own tail, and not nearly as entertaining.
Liam – I have no doubts that you are an Obama supporter, and I have read how much you want health care to pass, I also think that Obama’s Alpha Male is very different than what we have seen before. This is a guy who plays the political game very differently than anyone I have ever seen before.
I know there is no shot at a bipartisan bill. He must too.
But if he can get me, an avowed independent who was sick of the political bullshit for longer than I cared to mention, interested in politics again..well I don’t think he has lost that ability as POTUS.
The give a dollar a day campaign, the visit your congress person, those are all intended to get those who are interested but not passionate back into the game. To get them invested again.
He has said from the get go, power does not give up easily. That we are the ones who make the difference.
I hear what you are saying about give us a bill. I want that too. And though I know Obama is a great politician, I also know he, and his team, are not infallible.
I just get too emotional about this sometimes, and the way I pull back is to remind myself that yes he probably does have this covered.
true birthers are as wacko as the truthers.
but it does beg the question what is obama hiding? I say his long form bc says he’s white or his religion is muslim. no big deal that was the thing of the time use mothers race and also to put the relion on the cert. but it would not have been good PR for his campaign how could they promote a man whose mother is white and father is black as a blackman when his birth cer. says he is white. how could they squash the muslim claims when his birth cert. claims he is muslim.
I would like to see the passport he used to go to pakistan in the 1980’s as he claims in his book.
I do wonder why he is hiding his college record and medical record and has not released them like most do when running for president. so the crazy birthers have some things that are questionable but will never be answered so they will live on like the truthers in the land of crazyness. and a wonderful deflection for the left to prop up in the press day after day. along with their hatred for Sarah Palin why does she scare you folks so bad? she’s not even an elected official anymore and you go on and on about this women.guess facts are harder to come by then attacks on your opposition.
So am I the only one who noticed that if McHenry absolutely believed that Obama was not born in the U.S. and absolutely believed that he is not legitimately the President of the United States, his answers to Greg’s questions, as phrased, would (also?) be “no” and “no”?