Bill Posey (R-FLA) Eases Out of Birther Status

One month after introducing a bill--H.R.1503--that would require all presidential candidates to provide a copy of his or her birth certificate, U. S. Representative Bill Posey still lacks a co-sponsor for said bill.

Additionally, Representative Posey says that,

he has "no reason to question" that Obama — born in Hawaii to an African father and an 18-year-old American mother — is a U.S. citizen. (Orlando Sentinel)

Sorry Birthers.

Update: Representative Robert Goodlatte [R-VA6] has signed on as co-sponsor to H. R.1503. It only too a few months then.

Lonely Posey

On 12 March, Representative Bill Posey (R-FLA) introduced a bill--H.R.1503--to require future presidential candidates "to produce copies of their birth certificates and other documentation to prove natural-born citizenship" (Politico).

Representative Posey asserts, through a spokesman, that he only initiated the bill in order to prevent future presidential candidates from being subjected to rumors about their citizenship status (CNN). However, he's a bit evasive when asked about his own thoughts on the President's citizenship, telling the Orlando Sentinel: “I haven’t looked at the evidence. It’s not up to me to look at the evidence … I can’t swear on a stack of Bibles whether he is or isn’t.” I expect you can't blame the man for dancing around a bit: you can't really appeal to conspiracy theorists without looking like one yourself.

On March 20th, after a week of backlash, Representative Posey posted his reasons for introducing the bill at his 'blog.

The irony: Posey's bill proposes that a candidate produce a copy of a birth certificate. President Obama's COLB is just that--a certified copy that, as the document states, "serves as prima facie evidence of the fact of birth in any court proceeding."

Ah--and one week later, Representative Posey has yet to find any co-sponsors for his bill.

Update: One month after introducing his bill, Posey still lacks a co-sponsor. Additionally, he now says:

he has "no reason to question" that Obama — born in Hawaii to an African father and an 18-year-old American mother — is a U.S. citizen. (Orlando Sentinel)

Update Two: Two months later, Representative Robert Goodlatte [R-VA6] signed on as co-sponsor of Posey's bill. Anyone else?

Sorry Birthers.

UFL Text Message: “The Monkey Got Out of the Cage”

Via the University of Florida's emergency text message system, an anonymous person sent the message, "the monkey got out of the cage" to the entire UFL community at 8:45 p.m. on Tuesday, 20 January. People who received the text (and a few others) assumed that the message intended to disparage President Obama.

Police have found the fella who did it, a “former mobile campus” employee, who claims that:

the message was in no way meant to be racial in nature. In fact, [UPD Lt. Darren] Baxley said, the man told investigators he is an Obama supporter and voted for Obama in the November election. The man said he was “showing off” to two friends that he still had access to the Mobile Campus text messaging system and did not mean to send the message he had typed, Baxley said.

Why the man still was able to send a message as a former employee remained unclear, Baxley said. (UFL News)

If the former employee found a way to continue sending messages via the UFL system, one he should have been locked out of, this might explain the “monkey got out of the cage” aspect. I hope that this is the case (as opposed to some ugly dig at the new president).

More here.

Obama: Leading Nationally at 5.1 Point Average

According to Real Clear Politics, in all of the polling data released today, Obama leads John McCain. The smallest gap, two points, appears in the GW/Battleground poll. Three polls--Gallup tracking, Hotline /FD tracking, and Rasmussen tracking--accord Obama a six point lead.

Meanwhile, McCain's lead in Florida has dwindled to an RCP average of 0.3.

Two things:

The race remains, and will remain, close. These poll numbers will continue to fluctuate over the next month.

Obviously, the McCain camp won't take this sitting down. Although political attacks on Obama should be expected (duh), things will grow increasingly nasty. It shouldn't be a surprise if we begin to hear ever outrageous claims about Obama and Islam, Ayers, Wright, Rezko, and even more sordid allegations. We might also expect another McCain stunt or two if his campaign feels that he hasn't been burned enough by the "suspension" and the bailout's blowback.

The DNC's RBC Meets & the Nutjobs Descend

Just a link in case you missed today's excitement. Marc Ambinder at The Atlantic blogged live, so you're in for a treat kiddos.

I tell you what, those regular-folk who attended the meeting showed some class, didn't they? Especially when that Floridian lady talked about restoring half the state delegation's votes. Woo-ee. Someone yelled "lipstick on a pig." The man who shouted that has something to be famous for now. "Ya-up. Back in aught-eight I went to that fancy rules and bylaws meeting and yelled at some lady who thought she could take away our enfranchisement. I told her."

All that whooping and hollering and hissing and booing--it really helps sway a committee and gain yourself some supporters. Especially when it's the Democratic National Committee and you start yelling "McCain! McCain! McCain!"

A commentator at The Huffington Post responded to Sam Stein's article on today's event, "Eating a Reuben Amidst a Crowd of Clintonites," wonders "[h]as anyone thought about the possibility that these "rabid," ignorant women are not Democratic Hillary supporters, but Rush Limbaugh and Fox News' mindless followers making trouble?" I must admit that this though crossed my mind while watching the RBC's proceedings. and, come on, think about how often somebody mentions "Operation Chaos" with fondness when berating Obama. I'd hate to think that real Democrats were the ones acting up before, during, and after the committee meeting.

Dr. Phil Undermines Integrity (Again)

Dr. Phil's gone and got himself a slice of that Florida action. Apparently, via a producer, he's provided bond for Mercades Nichols, the brat-in-chief of the gang who filmed themselves beating up a 16 year old in Florida. Further, according to this news report, as Dr. Phil’s producer helped the brat and her mother depart the Big House, he “told other reporters to leave because the Dr. Phil show had exclusive right to Nichols’ story.” That Dr. Phil, he's a lovely man, isn’t he? So ethical, so generous of heart and spirit.

And pity poor Miss Nichols; to think this started because she and her pack of idiots wanted to get even with someone who posted smack about them to Facebook. Good to know that strategy has worked out so well for the lot of them.

An update one hour later: Dr. Phil’s people have contacted TMZ to say they've nixed plans for a show on those Florida teens; you see, posting the girl's bond “compromised” “the show’s guidelines.” Moreover, the producer who posted Nichols’ bond did so without the show’s permission. A sound decision. Naturally, they don't want to challenge the integrity of The Dr. Phil Show.

Brats Go Wild in Baltimore and Florida

A seriously "WTF" moment.

In Baltimore, a student attacked her art teacher and beat her severely while classmates cheered the girl on. One student recorded the incident on her 'phone and posted the video on MySpace.

When told of the event, the school's principal told the teacher, Ms. Jolita Berry, that she'd provoked the student--and did nothing. Oh, the girl was suspended, but is that "something"? Shouldn't the girl have been arrested? Apparently, no-one even contacted the police.

In other brats-gone-wild news, eight Florida teenagers (aged between 14 and17) involved in an attack on a 16 year old girl got some news today: they'll be tried as adults. Good.

These kids knocked the young woman unconscious, waited for her to wake up, and then proceeded to beat the hell out of her. The reason? Some kind of Facebook-induced hostility. The eight teens filmed the attack and threatened to post the video on MySpace and YouTube (I don't know if they carried out this threat).

For once, I'm pretty much speechless. A good thing, I guess, because otherwise I'd be posting all kinds of crazy, generalized nonsense about "kids today." I'll write more once I chill out (and get some work done).