I let the 4th anniversary of this web site pass unmarked on December 11. The question of whether anybody will still be interested in Obama eligibility much past January 20, 2013, is an open question. I did want to make some mention of the anniversary and to thank the folks who left 168,865 comments. It’s the commenters who make the site dynamic and from whom I have learned a lot.
Four years ago today the articles were:
This what the original version of the site looked like back in 2008 (click to view live capture of the site):
The Obama conspiracy world was so much simpler then.
I suspect birthers won’t let the issue go until well after 2016.
Doc, as usual you show your kind and gracious demeanor in thanking the commenters who have participated over the last four years. However, we are the ones who should thank you for the enormous effort you have put into “Fishing for gold coins in a bucket of mud”. I don’t know how you do it. You churn out high quality articles day after day that stimulate thinking among your readers. You encourage wide-ranging discussion on these topics (and a free thread for ideas outside the topics) with a minimum of control. I attribute this to the tone that you set in your articles and comments, which remains fresh, optimistic and even humorous despite the stale, depressing and grim blather that is birther. I don’t know how you do it, but you are an inspiration to us all.
American Mzungu:
DITTO for me, doc
i think we should start demanding consistency from the birthers for rubio, jindal etc if they are considered “eligible” candidates for higher office (in birtherstan) lest they be labeled “birthers for blacks only” ….. “browns” can apply
Count me in with the above comments.
Indeed, it was simpler time in 2008, when the only birther issue was whether Barack Obama was born in the United States. When Jerome Corsi wrote “The Obama Nation” and failed to mention that Obama was ineligible because a natural-born citizen has to have two citizen parents.
this from 2011
Why Obama Was Not Born in Kenya
http://www.americanthinker.com/2011/04/why_obama_was_not_born_in_keny.html
I’d like to jump on the bandwagon and offer my thanks to you too, Doc.
I don’t know how I found your site, perhaps I was googling for some info to hit some nutter with on ATS which I used to haunt for giggles. The Truthers were still out in force over there but it had all been raked over and over and over and over and it was like talking to a brick wall. Then this Obama eligibility thing started cropping up.
However I got here, it was an immediate revelation.
Actual discussions. Logical thought. Humor. People could take a joke and disagreement as something other than a personal assault (well except for Charo maybe). There were (competent) lawyers having technical discussions with retired computer programmers and would-be vaudvillians about history, computer algorithms, European sensibilities, confirmation bias, music, limericks, and occasionally the latest Constitutional crisis as it unfolded. Whenever the actors in some of those Constitutional crises showed up it was like being right there in the middle of history. Sort of. All that was missing was the Walter Cronkite voice over*.
Of course I became addicted immediately.
OCT is one of my three ‘home page’ tabs that fires up every time I start Firefox. I am constitutionally unable to start my day without reviewing the latest articles and comments and I check for new comments probably at least as often as I check for email.
Thanks Doc.
*December 21 has come and gone in Australia.
“What sort of day was it? A day like all days, filled with those events that alter and illuminate our times… all things are as they were then, and you were there.”
You have my thanks here too Doc.
I assume you mean January 20, 2013?
Me too. You’re a rare bird, Doc. It has meant a lot to have this site to go to when the clouds descended & it seemed the battle against political absurdities and fact-free discourse had been lost.
Yes, thanks Doc!
Congrats, Doc! On the staying power and accumulated reference. Obviously we’d all rather the subject matter had bever been birthed (heh) and its causes could be stamped out. Christmas is again present … but ignorance and want will always be with us, year ’round.
I’ve only been sucked in for a year now, I am both sorry and not for having missed the first 3. But, having been sucked in, there is a lot to be thankful for from it. I had been living a life too unexamined. The critical discourse that occurs here and elsewhere fills a daily need that my immediate environments forces to go begging.
________________
It was a simpler world indeed! Commenter Michelle alleged Obama had spent (as of Feb ’09, the date of her posting) a paltry $800K ‘hiding his records’. Latest repetitions of this meme I’ve seen claim $4M. How can I get that interest rate applied to my savings account?
My thanks as well from Southern France (a land visited by Mr. Obama himself when he was a student).
Thanks Doc,
Yours is one of my favorite sites on the internet
Hey Doc (and everyone else) thought you might enjoy this 8-year old “anti-birther”, lol: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CaiI2Ts50jg (at 1:25)
Merry Christmas!
Thanks also from one of your African brothers (Lagos, Nigeria actually).
Its been a truly fun ride
Agreed! Honestly, I’ve been getting somewhat bored with the repetitive blockheaded hopeless denialism of the Birthers, but what really keeps me coming back to places like this is the intelligence, wit and experiences of both the site owner and the incredible diverse community. I always learn something new from my fellows that post here – both from serious discussions and from lighthearted chuckles. As long as this site exists and the amazing regulars keep coming, I too will always return!
Even more encouraging, it seems we always get a handful of new contributors and commentors stopping by…and in many cases, coming back again and again. (And I’m not talking about the mere predictable and lame Birther trolls). I’ve noticed several fresh and wonderful new voices that have appeared in the midst of the election results here and have joined in.
This site does provide purpose, way beyond its original intent:
Here we come to monitor, deal with and discuss the frustrating irrational hate and fear that depressingly both endangers and holds humanity back….
The stark truth of people that obstinately live in an obsessed sick fantasy world of their own their own brainwashed making, who may someday become so unhinged as to pose a threat to themselves and others, is certainly a concerning and depressing one.
Realizing that many of these folks are either intentional grifting poisonous leeches upon the population or too-far gone gullible marks, can really make someone cynical about the fate of humanity as a whole.
Yet that craziness is covered and discussed here in such a way, that the very authorship and the ever growing community itself is always able to reflect, learn and often laugh at the dark things we see. The vast diversity of cultures, backgrounds and experiences of those that come here to contribute serve as a stark contrast and counterpoint to all the root causes and bigotry driving much of the hate-based nutjobs out there.
While the delusional RWNJ and ODS path leads to a self-shrivelling cancer of the mind, this place and its intelligent and thoughtful community provide just the opposite – a continuing sense of mostly respectful learning and opportunity for personal growth through understanding, compassion and a willingness to share through honest dialogue.
That’s what I love best about this place and why I will always keep coming back, whenver I can.
Thanks from Belgium, and yes, that was a simpler time when it was all about truth, justice and the American way. The phrase reminds me of a reaction on my facebook page when I put up a picture of Obama in Florida, after he got elected and before Florida had yet been elected. Someone reacted saying he must be Superman from Krypton, really. No one associated that remark with the birthers.
Orly may think she is world famous in Israel and Moldova but she is deluded. Over the world, the only people who are playing with birtherism are the friends of Geert Wilders. Another one who blonds his hair, like Orly and Trump.