Just Imagine – Before 2008, Congress Tried To Change The Eligibility Law 8 Times!!!

I keep running into the idiotic Birther rumor that prior to Obama running for the presidency, Congress tried to change the law on eligibility X number of times, usually “8″. The apparent source of this is one, Rev. Carl Gallups, who got a write up in (where else, but) World Net Daily.  In July 2011, you find these excerpts:

1.   June 11, 2003, Rep. Vic Snyder, D-Ark., brought HJR 59. It was intended to “permit persons who are not natural born citizens of the United States, but who have been citizens of the United States for at least 35 years, to be eligible to hold the offices of president and vice president.

2.  Sept. 3, 2003, Rep. John Conyers, D-Mich., brought HJR67, which would have done the same as Snyder’s, only the requirement to be a citizen was lowered to 20 years.

3.  Feb. 25, 2004, Sen. Don Nickles, R-Okla., brought S.B. 2128 to “try to counter the growing Democrat onslaught aimed at removing the natural born citizen requirement.” But it defined NBC as someone who was born in and is subject to the United States,” which was not the understanding of the framers of the Constitution.

4.  Sept. 15, 2004, Rep. Dana Rohrabacher, R-Calif., brought HJR 104, “to make eligible for the office of president a person who is not a natural born citizen of the United States but has been a United States citizen for at least 20 years.”

5.  Jan. 4, 2005, Conyers, D-Mich., HJR2, the same as Rohrabacher’s.

6.  Feb. 1, 2005, HJR15, Rohrabacher, to require only 20 years citizenship to be eligible for the office of president.

7. April 14, 2005, Snyder, HJR42, requiring 35 years’ citizenship.

8.  Feb. 28, 2008, Sen. Claire McCaskill, D-Mo., tried to attach to SB 2678, Children of Military Families Natural Born Citizen Act, an amendment clarifying what “natural-born citizen” includes. Obama and then-Sen. Hillary Clinton, D-N.Y., were sponsors.SB 2678, Children of Military Families Natural Born Citizen Act, an amendment clarifying what “natural-born citizen” includes. Obama and then-Sen. Hillary Clinton, D-N.Y., were sponsors.

http://www.wnd.com/2011/07/317705/

What is really galling is that all these  attempts had NOTHING WHATSOEVER to do with Obama.  As usual, WND knows its readers, and while the truth is buried in the article, that these were mostly attempts to permit naturalized citizens to run for the office, there is enough hype and subterfuge to make sure that a far different  message gets through to the WND half-wit audience. That message started with:

There were eight attempts by members of Congress during the years Barack Obama was developing a power base and running for president to remove the Constitution’s requirement that a president be a “natural-born citizen,” suggesting an organized strategy. . .

and includes, along with other lying smears and half-truths, some input from The Idiot Known As JB Williams:

JB Williams, on The Patriot News, also examined the circumstances of the proposals in Congress, and carried the sequence a step further.

“As a result, the DNC was forced to remove the ‘constitutionally eligible’ language from the 2008 DNC certification of the Obama-Biden ticket, omitting from the certification the following language – ‘and that the following candidates for President and Vice President of the United States are legally qualified to serve under the provisions of the United States Constitution.’

Of course what WND kinda doesn’t come right out and say is that Obama was NOT a naturalized citizen, so these proposed changes had nothing to do with him. Plus, notice how on attempt No. 3, which is from a Republican, and which confirms that persons born in the United States are natural born citizens, WND has this to say:

But it defined NBC as someone who was born in and is subject to the United States,” which was not the understanding of the framers of the Constitution.

That is not just completely false, but also a typical WND misrepresentation. Remember this article was written in July 2011, about a year and a half AFTER the Ankeny decision in Indiana which confirmed just the opposite, that:

Based upon the language of Article II, Section 1, Clause 4 and the guidance provided by Wong Kim Ark, we conclude that persons born within the borders of the United States are “natural born Citizens” for Article II, Section 1 purposes, regardless of the citizenship of their parents.

After a year and a half, even if WND did not agree with that decision, it would have been more honest of them to admit that court, and others, didn’t see it the same way. Of course the article has a picture of Obama with the Kenyan prime minister.  And, a youtube video which goes over the same information in a dramatic and scary fashion. I have seen numerous videos, and Internet Articles which repeat this same bunch of crap. One, if I remember correctly, listed 11 attempts.

This mess resurfaces in Birfer Land periodically, and today, while reading at Obama Conspiracy Theories, there was a Birther named Jee who said:

Jee March 25, 2012 at 4:52 am

Squeeky Fromm
Girl Reporter

Note 1. The Image. This is from the 1930 film, Just Imagine. I found out this about it:

Just Imagine was produced in 1930 as a musical American response to Fritz Lang’s Metropolis. It depicts the fantastic future of1980 as seen through the eyes of a man called Single O who has spent fifty years in suspended animation after being hit on the head by a golf ball. It also features a boy called J-21 who loves a girl, LN-18, and a rocket trip to Mars.

at this very informative website:

http://www.sadiethepilot.com/kellie/beauc.htm

Note 2. The Easter Egg. Vladimir Illych Lenin was reported to have said, “You know, I could travel with the passport of a dumb Swede “.

Read more at Birther Think Tank