Senator John McCain, speaking to Piers Morgan in an interview on CNN July 19, 2012, spoke about Sheriff Joe Arpaio’s investigation of Barack Obama’s birth certificate. Here’s the exchange that occurs after a discussion of other spurious attacks against others:
MORGAN: What does it say about the state of modern politics, that that kind of thing can happen?
MCCAIN: Listen, we just had a sheriff of Maricopa County, again, who has taken it upon himself to prove that President Obama was not born in the United States of America. Need I say more?
MORGAN: Well, I think you need to say one thing more, which is what does it tell you about the state of politics?
MCCAIN: It’s crazy. It stokes the fires of extremism and passions of people that really is very unfair. So it’s up to us to try to steer things into a more rational behavior and thought. But this is still the greatest nation in the world. It’s still the best people in the world. It’s still the most innovative nation in the world.
The full transcript is available at Real Clear Politics. Senator Lindsey Graham similarly called birthers “crazy” in 2008.
Are you citing McCain because you believe he has any credibility, Doc?
He’s citing McCain because he’s had an inside look at all the idiocracy that has created a politics of hate instead of one of ideas.
> who has taken it upon himself to prove that President Obama was not born in the United States of America
Slightly imprecise; there is no indication Arpaio tried anything related to proving foreign birth (because birthers have long ago realized that is a dead-end road).
What birthers don’t get (and really drives them mad if you rub it in their faces) is that Arpaio is doing his best NOT to go down the “he is ineligible” or “he is a criminal” route (don’t know if that is Corsi’s plan or if Arpaio simply refused to go this deep down the rabbit hole).
In fact, Arpaio said (for the second time) “I’m not accusing the President of anything” and he even talked about the scenario that Obama had no idea he was presenting a “fraudulent BC” as if it was the most likely, or even the only, scenario.
While this may at first glance seem to be just lip service to go along with his “I really wanted to clear the President”, it still is a big slap in the face of birthers whose conspiracy theory absolutely needs Obama to at least have been consciously, if not as the architect of the conspiracy, involved with the alleged crimes.
The only thing that puzzles me is why the birthers still haven’t thrown Arpaio under the bus. I mean, if after a year of “investigations” he still considers Obama innocent and has no inclination to pursue any “foreign birth” theories, why are they still considering him their hero? Just because of the propaganda value?
(Then again, Trump has also been on and off their Christmas list several times over by now.)
A helluva lot more than you do, that’s for certain.
“Are you citing McCain because you believe he has any credibility, Doc?”
.
congratulations, you just made the silliest comment ever!
Then he should hand the report to the White House so that they can discipline the guy in the copy room who screwed up. Wouldn’t that be the proper way to go?
Tell me, Jerry: if you’re a citizen concerned about presidential eligibility across the board, why are you not filing suits against Romney? His birth certificate is a laughable piece of garbage… “Void” marked all over it, information missing; no state certification, raised seal, or signature.
If you can’t answer that, it means there are only three possibilities: 1) you are a racist, meaning you would be hounding a Republican if he were non-white; 2) you are a partisan hypocrite disingenuously harassing the Democratic president as “political theatre,” or 3) you are lying about being only interested in policing the eligibility of candidates, since you fail to question Romney’s documentation.
So which is it, Jerry? Racist, hypocritical partisan hit-man, or liar?
Anyone who considers the electronic soup on a white house server to be evidence of anything other than utter absurdity lacks intellectual rigor and cannot be taken seriously.
You lose.
Of course McCain has no credibility with birthers. They believe that every member of Congress needs to be, (take your pick) impeached, imprisoned, and/or executed for being traitors to “We the People.” Likewise, they think the Supreme court and all federal and state judges are either on the take or being threatened into silence. They believe that there is only one honest man in America (Arpaio) and that ever other law enforcement official is corrupt. And now, many seem to believe that the shooting in Aurora CO was the work of a secret mind control program whose ultimate goal is to subvert the 2nd Amendment. Those are your supporters Jerry, and that’s why YOU have no credibility with people outside your deranged movement.
Back to the kitchen, Chef–and where’s my BLT?!
He’s illustrating that you birthers have no friends outside of your own ranks.
Yes, I am. I respect John McCain’s integrity, although I often disagree with him.
Because is he is a person of integrity, he is naturally attacked by those who have none.
Patiently waiting the personal smears on McCain which are sure to follow. Since McCain has been shooting down birthers from the beginning …. what’s taken them so long?
So you’re throwing Arpaio and the CCP under the bus, too, then.
3TV reached out to both Senators John McCain (R) Arizona and Jon Kyl (R) Arizona, as well as at least six U.S. Representatives from Arizona, but none of them wanted to comment on the MCSO “birther” findings.
“The joke’s really on the taxpayers and the people who keep putting this guy into office,” said Grant Woods, a former REPUBLICAN Arizona Attorney General. “But once again this is an embarrassment to this country coming out of Arizona.”
On Tuesday, REPUBLICAN Secretary of State Ken Bennett’s spokesman, Matt Roberts, declined 3TV’s request for a statement and said only that Bennett was “out of town, unavailable and does not have any plans to take action.”
and HE’S ROMNEY’S AZ CO-CHAIR
As for Governor Jan Brewer, in 2011 she told CNN the “birther” issue is “just something I believe is leading our country down a path of destruction and it just is not serving any good.”
Her spokesman, Matt Benson, said her position on the issue has not changed.
so much for arpaio waiting for CONGRESS!!!!!
Arpaio is attempting a general-purpose smear, but it would be disingenuous (and you certainly qualify) to suggest that the Cold Case Posse isn’t about Obama being foreign born.
Take, for example, their highlighting of Corsi’s investigation into INS forms from incoming flights to Hawaii (which is silly, since any INS forms coming from Kenya would have been collected in New York), and the statement from the first Cold Case Posse book:
If Sheriff Joe wanted to help Barack Obama, he would never have enlisted Jerome Corsi who published a book saying Obama was born in Kenya. Indeed Corsi and WorldNetDaily provided almost all of the Cold Case Posse “results.”
Nobody is fooled by the Cold Case Posse except the birthers.
Funny, but Dr. Alvin Onaka, Dunn award winner, former president of the National Association for Public Health Statistics and Information Systems, and long-time head of Vital Statistics for the Hawaii Department of health said:
Of course, birthers are forced by their delusion to ignore such evidence, deny it says what it says, or expand the conspiracy theory to include the source of the evidence. I cannot help your mental deficiency.
http://www.scribd.com/doc/96289285/Mississippi-Democratic-Party-Motion-v-Taitz
I didn’t say Arpaio’s show wasn’t *about* being foreign born, I said he never tried to *prove* Obama was foreign born. He pimped the “I cannot prove he wasn’t” meme a little in his everything-but-the-kitchen-sink first presser, but there is no indication he ever tried to get any actual proof (you can be sure the INS records would never have been mentioned if the “missing page” argument could not be made).
Exactly – there would have been no proof of Obama+mom coming over from Kenya to be found, therefore it was not an investigation into “proving Obama was born abroad” to begin with.
And why would it? There has never been enough material to “prove” foreign birth even by the lax birther standards of belief. (Cf. my comment about why birthers are so fixated on Mombasa.) WND occasionally did some articles on alleged Kenyan investigations but never pimped them the way they pimped other birther talking points (even Vattelism and the Malcolm X/FMD angles get more coverage there).
Since WND was never attempting to “prove” Kenyan birth, neither was the CCP since the latter feeds off the former.
If Joe wanted to *prove* foreign birth, don’t you think he’d have contacted the Kenyan government and then trumpeted “they are stonewalling me”? Don’t you think he would have presented Corsi’s “Kenyan papers” that allegedly found “criminal tampering” with their birth records? He never wanted to go down that road.
Because Corsi evaluated all his materials and saw that “the BC is forged” is getting the most feedback, even if it would never equate to “Obama is ineligible”. It has the highest propaganda value (and it is compatible with the alternative “he has another daddy” theories).
Let’s see. John McCain served his country honorably for 23 years in the U.S. Navy (27 years if you count his years at Annapolis). During his 5 1/2 years as a P.O.W. he endured unbearable mistreatment, including repeated torture. He was awarded 17 military awards and decorations include the Silver Star, Legion of Merit, Distinguished Flying Cross, Bronze Star and Navy Commendation Medal, for actions before, during, and after his time as a POW.
And what has Jerry Collette’s “brilliant legal mind” done for his country? Finding loopholes in campaign finance reform laws? Working to undo the votes of 69 million Americans?
Compared to you, John McCain’s middle name should be Credible.
McCain cannot be trusted regarding Obama’s eligibility. Remember, McCain cut a deal with Obama regarding his eligibility and it appears that deal was made in purpetuaty. Do we have proof of that deal? Yes, we do! – Senate Resolution 511 that made McCain an NBC and in which Obama signed on to. This resolution was made for McCain under the condition that he remain silent and obtuse on Obama’s eligibility – deal that was made in purpetuaty, in exchange for the media and people not raising concerns about McCain’s eligibility in 2008.
Raw stupidity and arrogance on parade. Such an unattractive combination.
I don’t think Sheriff Joe is trying to prove anything. He’s trying to gain campaign contributions in exchange for helping WorldNetDaily get web site hits. You say “If Joe wanted to prove…don’t you think?” I say that if he wanted to conduct a legitimate investigation of ANYTHING he would have done completely other than enlist volunteer birthers and an anti-Obama author. To prove something he would have used real law enforcement and enlisted recognized experts.
Zullo tried to prove that the birth certificate was a fake, but that has no relevance outside the claim that Obama was born overseas. The newspaper announcements prove who the certificate says his father was. How can you make logical sense out of a mass of innuendo anyway?
To be specific, they didn’t ask the Kenyan government because THEY have already said that they looked into the matter, and President Obama was not born in Kenya.
Arpaio is just smearing Obama, this is his politics.If he senses that someone is attacking him, he finds something, no matter how ludicrous, to fling back. If he is convinced he can gain points by making unwarranted attacks, he’s all in. It (apparently) didn’t take a long sales pitch from Corsi to snare Arpaio.
If you follow the comments on WND, the some elements of the “I’m Never Wrong”, Pan-Cynical, Do-Nothing Keyboard Warrior Brigade throw WND under the bus at every event. So they can tell their fellow birthers “I told you so”. They flame the WND Machine and their puppet Arpaio for “doing nothing” while they impotently post on the message board of the target of their criticism. My, how world-shattering.
The less cynical faithful hang on Arpaio’s words because he’s Doing Something, he’s smearing the man they want smeared.
It isn’t about truth, it’s about show. Birthers expect to lose. They just want someone, anyone, to tell them they are right. To confirm their fears and obsessions. They aren’t picky!
ROTFL… Poor Jerry. Good luck on your hearing today where you will have to show that the Judge made an error of law on the venue issue. Either way, we can expect a motion to dismiss/summary dismissal anytime soon now.
So you agree that the Cold Case Posse lacks intellectual rigor? Makes sense.
Speaking of Officer Fife, if you want to get some warm-fuzzies, go do a google news search of his trail! Its so good that it has to be fattening. Now he’s blaming all of the racist things he had to say in his book on the book’s co-author/ghost writer.
And exactly how did McCain deliver 100% of the United States Senate to keep his side of the deal?
You’re so easy.
OK, let’s look at things this way. How do we know where all those Presidents before birth records were kept were born? Simple, they are assumed to have been born where their parents lived. George Washington’s parents lived in Viirginia, so that’s where he was born. Lincoln’s folks lived in Kentucky, so that’s where he was born. Obama’s parents lived in Hawaii, so that’s where he was born.. I say it was the intent of the Framers to consider Presidents to be born where their parents lived and I defy you to disprove that. Speaking from the originalist perspective, birth certificates are irrelevant; in fact, actual birth place may even be irrelevant. It may be parent’s residence that really matters.
There was no “deal”. Why would one of the strongest conservatives in the US Senate, Senator Tom Coburn of Oklahoma co-sponsor the McCain Senate Resolution which was objected to by ZERO US Senators?
The election of 2008 is long over, Senator McCain is free to speak his mind four years later.
Poor John. Your delusions continue to overwhelm you.
Senate Resolution 511 didn’t “make” John McCain anything. It was a non-binding resolution. Nothing in it prevented any Senator or Representative from making an issue of McCain’s eligibility, much less preventing the media or “people” from raising concerns.
And it’s spelled “perpetuity.” Have you ever heard of spell check?
The “Father of the Constitution” James Madison’s words on this issue seem appropriate to add to Scientist’s point:
“It is an established maxim that birth is a criterion of allegiance. Birth however derives its force sometimes from place and sometimes from parentage, but in general place is the most certain criterion; it is what applies in the United States; it will therefore be unnecessary to investigate any other.”
22 May 1789, Papers 12:179–82
A scanned image of an original document is irrelevant when the real, hard copy, paper, vault edition of the document is stored in a safe in the records division of the Hawai’i Department of Health and its authenticity and accuacy have been attested to on five separate occasions by officials of the Hawai’i Department of Health. Dr. Chiyome Fukino, former Director of the Hawai’i Department of Health issued two statements of verification on October 31, 2008 and July 27, 2009; Loretta Fuddy, current Director of the Department of Health issued a statement of verification on April 27, 2011 and Dr. Alvin T. Onaka, Registrar of VItal Statistics for the state of Hawai’i has issued two official Letters of Verification in 2012, one on May 22, 2012 for Arizona Secretary of State Ken Bennett and one for the US District Court for the Central District of Mississippi dated May 31, 2010 in the lawsuit “Taitz v The Mississippi Democratic Party Executive Committee.”
Bitter, much there Jerry?
Here are reasons to cite this interview and get McCain’s opinion on the topic, regardless of what anyone thinks of McCain himself:
1. He is the Senator from AZ. Arpaio is a sheriff of a county *within* AZ and only has jurisdiction within his own territory. That territory is *within* Senator McCain’s constituency juridsdiction. Reporters have been trying to get commentary from other AZ representatives, in regards to this matter of an “investigation” taking place within AZ.
…Can you follow the bouncing ball yet, Jerry?
2. Arpaio and the CCP repeatedly stated (especially in this last “presser”) that the next step they want is for the US Congress to take up their “findings” and hold hearings on the matter. Senator McCain is a member of said US Congress. Therefore, his opinion that Arpaio and the CCP are nothing more than a joke clearly shows that McCain has no interest in supporting such hearings at all. Particularly a damaging lack of “backing” for Arpaio’s efforts, since McCain is *his* US Senator…
3. McCain also happened to be Obama’s main opponent in the 2008 General Election and the GOP’s nominee for running for President. Therefore, McCain’s campaign was a source of some of the best dirt digging “opposition research” available against Obama. So McCain’s stance shows that he knows that the Birther myths are nothing but bunk.
Face it Jerry, the reason you rushed to post such a laughably weak complaint about McCain on this article is because of how McCain’s comments in this interview (not just what he said, but the full tone and context in how he delivered them) show that this whole CCP nonsense and Birtherism are considered as nothing more than a throw-away joke by not just the mainstream, but by real people in high power in our government, including those that have bitterly fought to oppose Obama in the past.
So yeah, your childish tantrum is quite evident and revealing.
John, I’m only replying to this because you have so perfectly encapsulated the birther thought process. You have taken one thing either known or possible (in this case an actual known fact, that of Senate Resolution 511 having been signed by Obama), and then used that to say that your conclusion as to what it could mean has been proven. Birthers constantly say that something that is merely possible or conceivable is, by virtue of their saying so, true. You have provided proof that the Senate made a non-binding resolution regarding McCain’s eligibility to serve as President. You have provided no proof that there was any deal between McCain and Obama evidenced by this resolution. In fact, the lack of a similar resolution regarding Obama and signed by McCain shows how weak your claim of proof is. But this is the birther modus operandi. Anything that supports your position, no matter how tenuous or even impossible, is true, while anything that shows you to be wrong is a lie.
Birtherism in a nutshell.
“Nutshell” indeed!
G:
Birtherism in a nutshell.
Most annoying is the projection by birthers, who accuse the sane folk of this sort of dishonesty. Oh, the corruption!!
Yes, absolutely! 😉
That’s not kosher.
4th – fascist
5th – my choice: Crazy smelly man handing out greasy leaflets outside the subway
How about Chocolate Salty Balls?
How about Schweddy Balls: http://www.hulu.com/watch/4156
Even better, with Betty White:
http://www.mediaite.com/tv/snl-betty-white-is-bluffin-with-her-muffin/
He’s probably citing McCain because McCain is correct.
Actually, it is proof that Obama is a natural born citizen.
Hadn’t seen those. Betty White is a legend.
Your links don’t work in Australia, but I looked ’em up and found them elsewhere.
Thanks.
Maybe you didn’t know this, but McCain wasn’t born in the United States. Look it up.
That meme was started by Orly, on Israeli TV.
Be original.
OT, but apropos: The crazies are now after McCain:
Tea Party leader wants to kick Sen. John McCain out of office for defending Hillary Clinton’s Muslim aide – ‘Is she a Muslim? Is she an active Muslim? I rest my case,’ Arizona loudmouth Wes Harris says of Huma Abedin. He plans to start a recall drive against the long-serving senator.
Read more:
http://www.nydailynews.com/news/politics/tea-party-leader-kick-sen-john-mccain-office-defending-hillary-clinton-muslim-aide-article-1.1121488
That would require an active, working brain.