Could a Birther Bill Explode in Their Face?

In a  recent article on his blog Doctor Conspiracy posed a question about whether the courts would ever actually rule on the meaning of the term "natural born citizen" as used in the Constitution or would they always defer to Congress as the final arbiter on any question concerning qualification.  While the Birthers have tried in around 73 cases to force a court to somehow declare Obama to be ineligible there is only one case that actually addressed the NBC term somewhat head on and that was the Ankeny v Governor of the State of Indiana case in Indiana. The vast majority of the cases were dismissed on other grounds centering around standing, the political question doctrine, and failing to state a claim that the courts were empowered to decide.

I believe that if one of the Birther bills like the one Sen. Beavers from Tennessee submitted were to ever become law then the federal courts might settle the issue once and for all and the deVattelites and No-Multiple-Citizenshpists might not be very happy with the outcome. There are certainly other grounds the courts could use to strike down most of these bills such as the Full Faith and Credit clause in Article IV of the Constitution but it is possible that a court might want to also rule that the wording of the presidential eligibility clause also makes the bills unconstitutional.

However, as I said the other night I am not convinced any of these bills will be passed unless it is no more than a requirement for a prospective candidate to produce a certified copy of their birth certificate. I think we learned that Senator Beavers' bill certainly wasn't very high on her own list of priorities since she had not bothered to even read it.

Birthers are "askeered" to come on my show

What do Orly Taitz, Phil Berg, Mario Apuzzo, Pamela Barnett, Tim Adams, Ducky Hemenway, and Andrea Shea King all have in common? (Well, besides the obvious.) Answer: They are all afraid to come on RC Radio and defend their lies views. I have invited every one of them at one time or another. Not one one of them believes they can survive without having a nutty doting host or a tightly moderated blog to keep truth and facts muzzled. They must really be confident in their ability to support their beliefs - not.

[Edited to add:]

James Manning and RSOL Phil did come on my show and are welcome back. Manning's parting words were "and don't ask me back on your show." So I have not asked him back. I plan to ask Phil back again some time. I had a good conversation with both of them. I don't think Manning was too happy that I didn't buy his line that the Tenth Amendment allowed him to hold a lynching or that the Senate said you had to have two citizen parents to become president when they passed Senate resolution 511 concerning John McCain.

Senator Mae Beavers from Tennessee is clueless about her own "Birther" bill

Sen. Mae Beavers (R) TN

My guest last night was Senator Mae Beavers (R) from the 17th district in Tennessee. She is the chairperson of the Judiciary committee (always one of the most powerful committees in any legislature). It was an eye opening interview. We learned she doesn't understand what is in her own bill. That would be SB1091, a bill that completely bastardizes the requirements in Article II for the presidency into something that neither Dwight Eisenhower, Ronald Reagan, anyone born in Tennessee, nor Barack Obama could meet. Of course, we all know it is all about the last name on that list. Never fear however because Ms Beavers told us that it will be all fixed in committee. See, that is what committees do. They fix stupid bills that people like Senator Beavers submit without even reading - at least that is what we hope they do.

Ms Beavers was anxious to talk about her great Health Care bill but thanks to caller Mike repeating his Birther BS over and over she decided she had to leave. Never fear, however, caller Georgetown JD gave her health care POS a quick read and it is unconstitutional too! Thank doG I don't live in Tennessee and have someone like Mae Beavers trying to fix imaginary problems for me.

You can download the show here.

[Update 3/1 - Removed the silly video and added a new post with transcript of the interview.]

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I created this blog to host specific discussions about the Reality Check Radio show on Blog Talk Radio. This is the place to comment on recent shows or provide suggestions for guests and topics for future shows.