For Dr. Taitz and One-Third of Californians, the Birther Cause Lives On


It's an exciting time to be a minion of Orly Taitz.

Sure, you might think, “It's a terrible time to be a minion of Orly Taitz.” Her lawsuit in a Santa Ana federal courtroom? Dead. Her attempt to sue President Obama on behalf of military officers in Georgia? Dead. Her support from other leaders in the “birther” movement? Dead, dead and dead.

But all those things simply mean that this is a time of rebirth and renewal. Just as the president has opened his second year in office with a slew of new legislative proposals and a slight change in tone, Laguna Niguel's premier dentist-litigator seems to be planting new seeds into 2010.

Before we go any further, here's one fact that might help explain why we keep writing about Dr. Taitz.: A recent study reveals that one in three California voters are either unsure that Obama was born in America or simply believe that he wasn't.

We mentioned earlier this week that Taitz was contemplating a run for elected office in California. As of Monday, when we e-mailed her asking for a comment, she hadn't yet made the call to actually do it:

I got support from Libertarians, Republicans and Hillary and blue dog Democrats, who have asked me to run. I didn't decide yet, I am discussing it with my husband, as children and family are affected by any run.

Blue-dog Democrats? Loretta Sanchez, do you have something to do with this?

We've also written about the appeal Taitz filed for her Barnett vs. Obama suit (the one that was dismissed in Santa Ana). On Wednesday, Taitz filed her response to the court's mediation questionnaire. It's really a wonderful document, which you can download
here. The answers all all in Taitz's own handwriting, semi-succinctly describing why her plaintiffs are suing, as well as forwarding her colorful interpretation of what happened in Santa Ana: Judge David O. Carter “defrauded” the plaintiffs and took part in a conspiracy by hiring a clerk from a law firm sympathetic to Obama (which we covered here).

On top of these efforts, Taitz just this week opened a new case in Washington D.C. It's a “Quo Warranto” proceeding, which relies on an old writ that, Taitz claims, allows citizens to demand an public official to show by what right they are serving as a public official. The 95-page complaint and exhibits can be downloaded here. Here's how Taitz is described in the first few lines of the complaint:

She is a
Doctor of Jurisprudence and a Doctor of Dental Surgery. Through her
foundation she has popularized Constitution and fought violations of
Constitution and civil liberties of US citizens.

What do you think, is it true that Constitution was unpopular until Taitz came along? Excitingly, the only plaintiff in the D.C. case is Taitz. So it's Taitz v. Obama. Sounds like the title match we've been waiting for.

Lastly, as mentioned up there, Obama's citizenship remains a question in many peoples' minds. The Field Poll, released Tuesday, has 11% of Californians believing that the President wasn't born in America, with 22% not sure. The numbers come with an ideological component, too: Fully 58% of California voters who identify as Republican say the President wasn't born in America or aren't sure of it.

Just to be clear, there is something… wrong… with this 33% of the California electorate. Most, we hope, are confused. So just for their benefit, here is the statement from Hawaii's government issued last September:

 “I, Dr. Chiyome Fukino, Director of the Hawai‛i State Department of Health, have seen the original vital records maintained on file by the Hawai'i State Department of Health verifying Barack Hussein Obama was born in Hawai'i and is a natural-born American citizen.  I have nothing further to add to this statement or my original statement issued in October 2008 over eight months ago.”

There is no way around that statement. Obama was born in America. That stuff you've heard about his grandmother saying he wasn't? It's a lie, go read the transcript of what she actually said. The stuff about Hawaii law allowing foreigners to get birth certificates? It, too, is a lie; that law wasn't passed till after Obama was 20 years old. Even if it had been around in 1961 it wouldn't have produced a statement like the one above from Fukino. The other rumors? The Pakistan travel ban? The Indonesian adoption? The forged certificates? They're all untrue, or at least, unsubstantiated.

And to the mound of debunked birther “proof,” you can add the line about Obama spending “millions of dollars” to hide his birth certificate. Mother Jones took this one on just the other day (hat tip as always to Obama Conspiracies).

That said, we're still entertained by Orly Taitz, and take some guilty pleasure out of the fact that she's keeping on. Despite what she thinks Obama has done to the country, America remains America: Here, she has every right to continue to be wrong.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *