In other words, grow up...

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   Doug Hughesposted 12 years ago

   THE PRESIDENT: As many of you have been briefed, we provided additional information today about the site of my birth. Now, this issue has been going on for two, two and a half years now. I think it started during the campaign. And I have to say that over the last two and a half years I have watched with bemusement, I've been puzzled at the degree to which this thing just kept on going.
   
   We've had every official in Hawaii, Democrat and Republican, every news outlet that has investigated this, confirm that, yes, in fact, I was born in Hawaii, August 4, 1961, in Kapiolani Hospital.
   
   We've posted the certification that is given by the state of Hawaii on the Internet for everybody to see. People have provided affidavits that they, in fact, have seen this birth certificate. And yet this thing just keeps on going.
   
   Now, normally I would not comment on something like this, because obviously there’s a lot of stuff swirling in the press on at any given day and I've got other things to do. But two weeks ago, when the Republican House had put forward a budget that will have huge consequences potentially to the country, and when I gave a speech about my budget and how I felt that we needed to invest in education and infrastructure and making sure that we had a strong safety net for our seniors even as we were closing the deficit, during that entire week the dominant news story wasn’t about these huge, monumental choices that we're going to have to make as a nation. It was about my birth certificate. And that was true on most of the news outlets that were represented here.
   
   And so I just want to make a larger point here. We've got some enormous challenges out there. There are a lot of folks out there who are still looking for work. Everybody is still suffering under high gas prices. We're going to have to make a series of very difficult decisions about how we invest in our future but also get a hold of our deficit and our debt --how do we do that in a balanced way.
   
   And this is going to generate huge and serious debates, important debates. And there are going to be some fierce disagreements --and that’s good. That’s how democracy is supposed to work. And I am confident that the American people and America’s political leaders can come together in a bipartisan way and solve these problems. We always have.
   
   But we’re not going to be able to do it if we are distracted. We’re not going to be able to do it if we spend time vilifying each other. We’re not going to be able to do it if we just make stuff up and pretend that facts are not facts. We’re not going to be able to solve our problems if we get distracted by sideshows and carnival barkers."
   
   President Obama 4/27/11
   
   Now, on HP a bunch of conservatives and libertarians have been vocal in rejecting the carnival carp. They have been loyal to their principles, but these folks (who I regularly disagree with) have not lost touch with reality.  I think this is an important point - being willing to distinguish reality. Those who can't make the distinction, should post on Sci-Fi & Fantasy.

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      AnnCeeposted 12 years agoin reply to this

      Oh no!!!!!!!!!!!!!
      
      I Can Emphatically Tell You That The Document Posted On White House.gov Has Been Either Pasted Together, Or For Some Reason Taken Apart
      
      Home - by BigFurHat - April 27, 2011 - 19:24 America/New_York - 67 Comments
      
      People have been asking me to weigh in on the veracity of the newly released white house COLB because they know that in “real life” I’m a graphic designer.
      
      I can emphatically tell you that this document is not merely a scan of a document that has been uploaded to the internet. This is a document that has been either put together or taken apart prior to the upload, and even Charles Johnson would have to admit that.
      
      After downloading the document that Whitehouse.gov made available to the public I opened the file in illustrator and the file is indeed in layers, which cannot happen unless the document was edited.
      
      Furthermore, what is layered and the method of the layering is peculiar.
      
      Notice that the type is on its own layer, and when moved it reveals that the background was placed around the type and is absent behind it. This indicates that this document was most likely at some time worked on in photoshop. Without giving a full tutorial, this is achieved by pasting in a background while the type is selected in the inverse mode. The background would not appear behind the text. This is what has happened here.
      
      Also notice that not all the text moves. Some text stays in place. This, one would assume, is text that would be part of the “starting document” that someone would use to create a new document. It’s text that they didn’t need to scrub because it is text that is supposed to be on their new forgery.
      
      Also notice that when the text is moved it goes behind the outer border that is supposed to be part of a solid document. Obviously this is not a solid document, but something pieced together.
      
      The burning question is, why would the person who created this thing leave it editable before uploading? When you save a document in illustrator you have to proactively check a box that tells the program you want it left editable.
      
      The government, even if they’re uploading documents that are expected to have been put together, should never offer it online as editable. That would be like uploading currency in layers so that a forger has a great template to work from.
      
      Even on that level this is the gang that can’t shoot straight.
      
      I was never an ardent “birther” before, but I think I am now. This must be explained  (frankly, I don’t think it can be) and I would expect that progressives with an ounce of integrity would want the same.
      
      http://iowntheworld.com/blog/?p=73096

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         wildernessposted 12 years agoin reply to this

         And thus it begins.  There was never any doubt that anything at all that Obama provided would be declared false and that the controversy would continue.
         
         Personally I wish he had never even addressed the issue, but simply and totally ignored it as the total waste of time it is.

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            DTR0005posted 12 years agoin reply to this

            You knew this was coming... and I agree. You can't educate the willingly ignorant or deluded.

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            DTR0005posted 12 years agoin reply to this

            The liberal argument prior to releasing the certificate went something like this: You release it and the Far Right will continue to move the football... and that is exactly what happened.

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               wildernessposted 12 years agoin reply to this

               Of course it is.  I can't imagine why he did it at all; no one in their right mind could expect any difference in the ridiculous claims.

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         DTR0005posted 12 years agoin reply to this

         Do you have any idea how utterly ridiculous and dogmatic your claim is? Even the most ardent Birthers are backing down from the ridiculousness because they know all the wind has gone out of the sail. Do you believe the moon landings were faked? The earth is really flat? Dan Brown's novels are history and not fiction? Black dude gets elected president with a funny name and the country up and loses its flippin' mind... Wonderful

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            Sophia Angeliqueposted 12 years agoin reply to this

            You'll never believe how many people believe that the moon landings were fake, the earth is flat, Dan Brown's novels are history, that Obama is ??? and the queen is an alien,
            
            It's all rather beyond me that these people cannot separate fact from fiction.

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               wildernessposted 12 years agoin reply to this

               A few years ago I was told how to get rid of warts:
               
               Cut a potato in half and rub the wart with the cut potato.  (At this point, I'm willing to try it).  BUT....to actually work, the potato must be tied back together with string and buried under the full moon!  (At this point it's OMG)
               
               Yes, it is amazing what people will believe as fact.

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                  Sophia Angeliqueposted 12 years agoin reply to this

                  Wilderness you just made me roar with laughter!

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                     wildernessposted 12 years agoin reply to this

                     You can imagine what I felt like, then.  The directions were given to me in all seriousness from a coworker at a new job.  The effort to contain myself was phenomenal!
                     
                     The same man told me that his family in West Virginia did not believe that man ever visited the moon.  Don't know that there is actually much difference...

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               hottopicsposted 12 years agoin reply to this

               The Queen is an alien? That explains alot    LOL
               
               To gullable stories, when I lived in NY me and my friend took up golfong. We bacame addicted and was sorry winter was coming One day we had a snow storm, about 8 inches. I called him aqnd told him to come pick me up the golf course was plowed clean. I could not believe it when my friend pulled in my driveway about an hour later

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                  hottopicsposted 12 years agoin reply to this

                  Not for nothing, but if he was distracted by the birther issue and could not concentrate on the business of the country, he should not be President. I am sure it did not distract him from playing basketball or traveling and giving speeches. He he spent the time working he spends campaining, he would be a great leader. Point, He is going to NY on Thursday. The only reason he is going is for political reasons. He should be proud of his decision to get Bin Laden( I am, despite the fact I disagree with him most of the time) and leave it at that.

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                  Mighty Momposted 12 years agoin reply to this

                  Now THAT is a classic story!!!
                  They never used to plow the golf courses when I lived in NY.
                  Of course, that was a long time ago, and technology evolves
                  What do they use? A Zamboni machine?

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                     hottopicsposted 12 years agoin reply to this

                     LOL

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         uncorrectedvisionposted 12 years agoin reply to this

         The least important issue regarding the Obama presidency is his birth certificate.  Real policy issues are far more important a focus of energy and effort than chasing around trivia.

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            rebekahELLEposted 12 years agoin reply to this

            uncorrectedvision wrote:
            
            The least important issue regarding the Obama presidency is his birth certificate.  Real policy issues are far more important a focus of energy and effort than chasing around trivia.
            
            yes.
            nothing but distractions by people who so desperately want Obama to be who he is not- the birthers are nauseating.

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               uncorrectedvisionposted 12 years agoin reply to this

               On the contrary, Obama is proving everyday who he is - a disaster.

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                  DTR0005posted 12 years agoin reply to this

                  I feel your pain - I lived through 8 years of similar malaise.

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                     Mighty Momposted 12 years agoin reply to this

                     I know, hunh. Where was Trump when we REALLY needed him?

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                        uncorrectedvisionposted 12 years agoin reply to this

                        Trump has called the last three presidents the worst since Jimmy Carter.  That would be Clinton, B U S H and Obama - since you are only paying attention to certain things.  Trump is a clown and a fool.  He is a self promoter and an opportunist.  He has donated to the campaigns of Democrats that should make any conservative run away from him as the "reality" television ego maniac and camera hog he is.

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                           Mighty Momposted 12 years agoin reply to this

                           How do you know what things I am paying attention to?
                           Donald Trump saying it does not make it so.
                           Besides a little laughing face at the end, is there another way to convey sarcasm in HP posts? If so, I will employ it next time so my meaning is clear.
                           Which, of course, is no guarantee when people are waiting to pounce on any and every comment.

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                              uncorrectedvisionposted 12 years agoin reply to this

                              Trump was there when you needed him - he publicly criticized Bush.

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                                 rebekahELLEposted 12 years agoin reply to this

                                 It's rather silly to think that America has ever 'needed' Trump.

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                     uncorrectedvisionposted 12 years agoin reply to this

                     Really - what could you possibly mean?  You mean that by every possible, reasonable measure Obama's first two years were at least as disastrous as 8 years of Bush?  Or do you mean by every reasonable measure everything, EVERYTHING, is worse than the 8 years of Bush?
                     
                     Let's see - higher unemployment-higher foreclosure rate- higher inflation- worse housing starts- worse house sales- a collapse in commercial property-
                     
                     gitmo still open- prisoners still handed over for rendition - no civil trials of prisoners at gitmo -
                     
                     American troops still in Iraq- expanded and more deadly and ineffective presence in Afghanistan- the ascendency of anti-American Islamic movements in Egypt, Yemen, Bahrain and Jordan- and now a brand new war in Libya
                     
                     abandonment of decades of bankruptcy law to tongue kiss the UAW and crap on retired teacher, policemen and firemen whose retirement funds were holding equity stakes in GM and Chrysler,
                     
                     jamming socialized medicine down our throats while tacitly admitting it can't work by granting hundreds of exemptions to businesses and states, tongue kissing the AARP by guaranteeing that their insurance program will benefit by billions from Obamacare 
                     
                     You are right Obama has accomplished in 2 years what it took George W. Bush 8 years to do - Man - he is really good at being a terrible president.

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         dingdondingdonposted 12 years agoin reply to this

         Still? Really? It's still not good enough? This is ridiculous.

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         Ron Montgomeryposted 12 years agoin reply to this

         

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         Ron Montgomeryposted 12 years agoin reply to this

         
         
         Misprint.  It was actually BigFoilHat

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      uncorrectedvisionposted 12 years agoin reply to this

      Doug,
      
      It scares me when you and I agree.  The issues conservatives should have with Obama are all substantive policy issues.  I do think there is a reasonable expectation that presidential contenders should demonstrate their qualifications for running but that isn't the issue with Obama.  I have no doubt that some will continue to waste time and energy digging into the past instead of insisting on the present.
      
      Just like the people who insist on disliking him personally there are those who have emotion invested in things that do not matter.  It is obvious to me that Obama is a decent middle American family man with all the wrong ideas about government, economics, society, etc....  A good reason to oppose his policies not a good reason to get silly over the birth certificate.
      
      It entertains me no end to mock the whole Hawaii/Kenya/Indonesia/Muslim May Pole dance - from both sides.

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         DTR0005posted 12 years agoin reply to this

         Agreed - you don't have to like him or his policies, but the Far Right is seriously discrediting itself with this nonsense.

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            uncorrectedvisionposted 12 years agoin reply to this

            1) What does "the far right" mean?  Isn't Limbaugh the spokesman thereof?  All he has ever done is tongue-in-cheek the whole thing.
             
            2) Isn't it the position of the "left" that the "right" are all unbalanced nut cases any way and therefore have no credibility to blow?
            
            3) Most serious minded conservatives have only addressed the issue by saying that people who are pursuing the presidency should reveal as much about themselves as they would be required to do if applying for a position with, say... the FBI.
            
            4) Didn't the "left" compel John Sidney McCain III, son of an Admiral in the United States Navy, Grandson of a World War II Naval hero and wounded Vietnam veteran, to document his legal citizenship?
            
            5) Didn't holding back the certificate accomplish something beneficial for Obama by making anyone even mentioning the "controversy", even in passing, appear like a lunatic?
            
            6) The ultimate outcome will be for individual states to require specific documentation before anyone can file for presidential primary candidacy.

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               DTR0005posted 12 years agoin reply to this

               Limbaugh "tongue-in-cheek?" I am not sure what you mean by that. I have listened to him off and on since the 1990's - I am not exactly sure what he is other than an entertainer - an entertainer that a fair amount of Americans consider to be the mouthpiece of reason.
               No, the Left doesn't believe the Right are all unbalanced nut cases. Certainly some on the far Left may hold these views, but I think the middle-of-the-road liberals or even Independents like myself see the "current" Right as falling apart at the seams. And many Independents aren't happy at the thought of having to choose between the "kinda nutty" and the "really nutty"  - the conservatives let these nuts, the Tea Partiers, in under the tent to bolster their gains in the Midterm Elections. Now you have to contend with the fall-out. I have been voting for over 30 years and I have yet to see a more flakey set of squirrels come on the national scene than the Tea Party.
               
               For the sake of the Republican Party which I respect and have often voted with, I hope the Tea Party quickly becomes a footnote in history. If it doesn't, good luck on regaining power in 2012 and beyond...

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                  Mighty Momposted 12 years agoin reply to this

                  Has anyone else noticed that the "normal" Republicans are keeping a very low profile these days? It's like they want to distance themselves from the Tea Party as much as they wanted to distance themselves from Bushco at the end.
                  
                  Are these reasonable people going to lie down and let the teabaggers run roughshod over them?

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                     uncorrectedvisionposted 12 years agoin reply to this

                     I find it fascinating that people so misidentify the Tea party movement.  They fail to recognize that it is a reform movement that has gobbled up Republicans and Democrats in favor of candidates willing to place conservative notions like smaller, more responsive and more constitutional government above party loyalty.  That movement isn't over.  Not sure why I am telling you this - you have formed your opinion - upon what I am not sure - and opinions are harder to change than anything else since people invest emotions in them.

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                        DTR0005posted 12 years agoin reply to this

                        I find it fascinating that the Tea Party movement started out much as you have decribed it - a pure Libertarian movement. But then, and I am not certain why you won't admit this as you are obviously a very level-headed individual, it took on all the nutiness of a three-ring circus.
                        The Tea Party speaks for itself really. I get their literature. And while at the start they were definitely Libertarian, they have moved to the "John Birch" side of the house. And listen, in order to gain political momentum every movement puts out the "cookies and milk" for the very below average individual to enjoy - with the Tea Party it was "Constitutionialism" and "getting back to basics." I never saw so many copies of the Constitution in any one place in my life. And everyone had, overnight, become a Constitutional scholar even though many tripped over the "big words" in the text.  They have, a least for brief periods of time, espoused every fringe conspiracy theory that has come down the pike. I have been to two of their "rallies" and when I tell you that the "average" person I have met there scares me, I am telling you the average person I have met there scares me. What I have seen, for the most part, is undirected or misdirected anger - and lots of it. I listened time and again how "my America has been taken over by some foreigner - an Islamist..." And how my taxes are "too damn high." And you suddenly begin to realize once you apply "reality" to their claims that many of the Tea Party faithful really don't have a clue about anything. You can't "tell" them that their taxes are the lowest they have been in literally decades - you can't even show them that on paper. I know it - I am a tax payer, but "they know better." I listened time and again about how that "Muslim" was going to take away Medicare and replace it with "socialized medicine." And how Obama was driving up the cost of private healthcare insurance by making it more difficult for insurance to deny claims, etc. And seriously, your first notion is to laugh, but then you realize these people are dead serious.

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                     DTR0005posted 12 years agoin reply to this

                     There aren't many "normal" Republicans on Hubpages...loll

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                     sn53Anonposted 12 years agoin reply to this

                     Do you consider me a "normal" Republican? I am not. I am conservative. And I am about to join my local Tea Party. I believe we are Taxed Enough Already. Too much, actually.

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                        DTR0005posted 12 years agoin reply to this

                        No, I imagine you defy any label.

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                           sn53Anonposted 12 years agoin reply to this

                           I imagine I do too. I am Conservative.

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                        Maembeposted 12 years agoin reply to this

                        You are far from normal, I can assure you of that.

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                  uncorrectedvisionposted 12 years agoin reply to this

                  Limbaugh's treatment of the birther silliness has been tongue in cheek. Check out what others have said about Limbaugh - it isn't merely entertainment any more than any other news commentary is entertainment. 
                  
                  There are serious NPR people who thing he is worth listening to.
                  http://videocafe.crooksandliars.com/hea … palled-lib

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                  C.J. Wrightposted 12 years agoin reply to this

                  Doug, I tend to agree with you regarding the "Birther" issue. There is an over arching issue regarding this document. It was published in a manner that allows editing. This was a HUGE mistake! In proving the Presidents birth we have now opened up the door to question all subsequent COLB coming out of Hawaii. In other words, even if the document released is correct, it is also a template for future fraud. I can't believe no one is noticing.....

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   Hugh Williamsonposted 12 years ago

   Our earliest presidents weren't born in the United States because it didn't exist yet. Neither they, or any president since, has been accused of falsifying birth records...until Obama.
   
   There is solid proof of the president's being born in the U.S...enough to satisfy a reasonable person. To keep churning the issue indicates that there are other things in play, not just where he was born.
   
   Shameful, that's the term that fits.

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3. 59

   dingdondingdonposted 12 years ago

   It's shameful that birthers moaned about this for so long. I voted for Obama and I don't regret that decision, but even I can admit there are far more compelling reasons to have a problem with him and his policies than "wah scary black man might have been born in Kenya even though he's shown us his birth certificate more than once now".

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   Jonathan Jancoposted 12 years ago

   I must say the more this debate goes on the sillier it gets, but I feel the need to chime in on a couple of things I read from other contributors that are bothering me.
   
   First of all, the Tea Party is by no means a Libertarian movement. Hearing that made me belly laugh. Perhaps for the commonfolk who are falling for the Tea Party rhetoric its a libertarian movement, but the people funding the movement are blatant neo-conservative oppurtunists who are out to finish W's job of destroying the Federal Gov't. Hell, they will even tell you that to your face if you get them in the right mood (I do have a way of getting folks to open up).
   
   On the other hand, I've seen a few contributors refer to the "far right" who have gotten responses like 'what's the far right?' and I don't think it's fair to label someone as such unless of course you are accusing them of being a white supremacist. The "Far Right" is literally the KKK and the ANP and very very very few others fall into that category. Having studied and independantly investigated the Klan and the ANP for years, I have a lot of information about them. And by a lot I mean I literally have a sh!t heap of info about them. I've spoken to these people at their rallies and privately and I must say (eventhough they knew I was a flaming lefty and an activist) they were very . . .  shall we say unashamed of their views. I'm just saying that the Tea Party is not the Far Right. They may be the establishment pretending to be a grass roots movement, but that's not the same thing. Just as the ANP uses blatant Communist rhetoric to convert white liberals into ANP activists (and unfortunately I know all too well how amazingly successful they have been coming from this angle) is similar to the Tea Party using libertarian or populist jargon to turn Joe or Jane USA into fiscal hawks, that is still not the same thing.

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      Maembeposted 12 years agoin reply to this

      I think people say it was originally a libertarian movement because Ron Paul started some huge fund raising campaign on the day of the Boston Tea Party or something like that.  Then the neocons came along and highjacked it.

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         Mighty Momposted 12 years agoin reply to this

         Does Ron Paul want the Tea Party back?
         Where's Evan? He would know the answer to that.
         I can't imagine he does.
         Then again, maybe he'll tap Michelle Bachmann as his Veep candidate (oh nooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo).

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            sn53Anonposted 12 years agoin reply to this

            Do you believe it belongs to him? How could it? The TEA Party consists of hundreds of local organizations. There is no single person in charge.

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               Mighty Momposted 12 years agoin reply to this

               Actually, there is a pair of brothers in charge.
               Their name is spelled K-O-C-H.

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   Reality Bytesposted 12 years ago

   OK he released the BC now we need to know if he registered for selective service?  Also it is detrimental if we can prove for a fact that indeed Obama dyes his hair? 

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