Ten Years of Blogging: A Birther Post Brings Almost 3,000 Comments

Through the years, commenters have come and gone and at times the discussion is vigorous. The post with the most comments was a news item on a case regarding President Obama’s birth certificate (remember that?). At risk of starting a long series of comments from birthers, truthers and their opponents, I link to the post with nearly 3,000 comments.
Berg was trying to prevent the electoral college from voting on Obama’s electoral victory. However, eventually Justice Souter ruled as follows:

UPDATE: 12/10/08 – Late yesterday, Justice Souter denied Berg’s request to stop the Electoral College from voting for Obama.

The post became a place for all kinds of conspiracy theories and I let go on because I of my interest in confirmation bias. Someone in the grip of an idea will often hold on no matter how much contrary evidence is presented.
Note: I didn’t add the link until just now on Friday evening. Sorry for the inconvenience.
 

Will this calm the birther storm????

The President is releasing his long form birth certificate today.
Trump and Franklin Graham may have pushed the right/wrong buttons.
So will this calm the storm? Open forum – what will the new objections be? What will birthers say about this development? And what new and startling findings will we see?
Been pretty serious around here for a spell, let’s have some fun with this.
And here it is…
I wonder if this thread will finally die? (2800 comments and counting)

400,000 people want to see the long one not the short one

I think the headline is on target.

The questioner is talk show host Lester Kinsolving; responding is press secretary Robert Gibbs. Via Politico with a tip of the hat to David Blakeslee. I wonder if this will revive the longest comment thread in the history of the universe here.

Donofrio vs Wells: Obama citizenship case covered by the Chicago Tribune

Tomorrow the High Court conferences over Donofrio vs. Wells. According to reporting by James Janega of the Chicago Tribune, the case has little chance of succeeding.

Legal experts say the appeal has little chance of succeeding, despite appearing on the court’s schedule. Legal records show it is only the tip of an iceberg of nationwide efforts seeking to derail Obama’s election over accusations that he either wasn’t born a U.S. citizen or that he later renounced his citizenship in Indonesia.

Another article published yesterday in the Tribune sumarizes some of issues surrounding this and other cases.
This morning I received via email a fundraising appeal from the United States Justice Foundation.

UPDATE: Our efforts to compel Senator Barack Obama to produce a valid birth certificate in order to prove that he is constitutionally eligible to be President of the United States ARE TAKING OFF!
As you may already know, we recently filed suit in California to push the issue and, at this very moment, we’re helping to fund the suit in Mississippi. We are in communication with other states that have suits in process; and we’re putting plans into action to file suits in additional states as well!
But, because our efforts are taking off, that also means we need your help!
According to a recent headline in WorldNetDaily, Team Obama tried to dismiss efforts to demand that he prove his eligibility to hold the office of President of the United States as “GARBAGE”!
But they’re taking the matter a little bit more seriously NOW! With each passing day, Team Obama is finding it harder and harder to dismiss the question.

I really wonder what the end game is when the Supreme Court goes through several denied certiorari petitions. In part due to the media neglect surrounding Obama’s record and background during the election, I think the distrust of media has given rise to a willingness on the part of some people to give weight to the narratives questioning Obama’s citizenship. A glance through the almost 500 comments on an early Berg vs. Obama thread will reveal sincere people trying to sort through often contradictory information. In this environment, I think the entrance into the arena by the Tribune is a good thing. With lawsuits being filed in many states, the story does not seem to be going away.
For my part, it seems to me that the state of Hawaii is the final word on this matter. If the Land of Chaka says Obama was born there, I cannot see any U.S. Court taking any other perspective.
UPDATE: A related case, Wrotnowski vs. Sec of State Connecticut, also was denied certiorari today. (h/t: Rich)