# Alan Keyes is Suing Obama
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/alan-keyes-is-suing-obama/473513
**Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share
**Created:** [November 19, 2008, 8:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/alan-keyes-is-suing-obama/473513 "2008-11-19T20:20:22Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 2
### Author:  [@Ferret\_Herder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ferret_Herder)
#### Post date: [November 19, 2008, 9:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/alan-keyes-is-suing-obama/473513/21 "2008-11-19T21:09:52Z")
> [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](#):
>
> Obama was going to win by a wide margin regardless of who the Republicans threw up against him. It was that dude who was married to 7 of 9 who flushed the GOP’s chances against Obama down the toilet, and he was losing anyway even before his scandal blew up (remember him hiring a stalker to follow Obama 24/7 with a video camera?).
>
> They didn’t think he could win. They just couldn’t get anybody else to do it. Keyes was chosen as a sacrificial lamb, not as a serious challenger.
This is true, Obama was doing very well even when [Jack Ryan](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jack_Ryan_(Senate_candidate)) was pre-scandal. A month before the release of information about Ryan’s divorce, [Obama was ahead 53% to 30%](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jack_Ryan_(Senate_candidate)#Campaign_demise) in a statewide poll by the most conservative of the Chicago daily newspapers.\*
Ryan **might** have stayed on as the candidate even if the truth about his divorce proceedings had come out, but he lied to the officials of the Illinois GOP and told them why no, there was absolutely nothing embarrassing in his sealed divorce records that were about to be opened. Even before Ryan’s candidacy imploded, there was local news coverage about how well this young, up-and-coming guy was doing all up and down the state and how people even in the more traditionally Republican parts of the state were showing up to his visits to their communities and came away impressed.
Jim Oberweis was in the primary for the Republican candidate in that race, and [his backers wanted him to take over the spot](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jim_Oberweis#U.S._Senate_campaigns) (IIRC Oberweis himself had expressed a desire to get back in the running as well) but he was not selected. Considering he had made himself unpopular with the White House at the time due to his views on immigration, I suspect the IL GOP eliminated him from consideration for that reason. And Keyes? At the time I said he was the sacrificial lamb, and they had to go all the way to Maryland to find someone else willing to run against Obama with his popularity rating.
- That paper, the Chicago Tribune, broke its long history in presidential endorsements by [this year endorsing a Democratic candidate for the first time](http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/opinion/chi-chicago-tribune-endorsement,0,1371034.story). They also endorsed the senior US senator from Illinois, Dick Durbin, over his Republican challenger, and praised his accomplishments.
---
### Author:  [@Paul\_in\_Qatar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Paul_in_Qatar)
#### Post date: [November 19, 2008, 9:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/alan-keyes-is-suing-obama/473513/22 "2008-11-19T21:12:11Z")
I met him once. Nutty as a fruitcake, with raisins for eyes.
---
### Author:  [@Kyla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kyla)
#### Post date: [November 19, 2008, 9:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/alan-keyes-is-suing-obama/473513/23 "2008-11-19T21:26:16Z")
Alan Keyes is a crazy person; I feel really sorry for [his daughter](http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A20005-2005Feb12.html).
From the article:
> [@](#):
>
> During his failed campaign last fall against Barack Obama (D) for the Illinois Senate seat, Alan Keyes lashed out at Mary Cheney, the lesbian daughter of Vice President Cheney. Keyes told a radio interviewer that Mary Cheney was a “selfish hedonist.” Then, without having been asked anything about his own family, he volunteered that “if my daughter were a lesbian, I’d look at her and say, ‘That is a relationship that is based on selfish hedonism.’ I would also tell my daughter that it’s a sin and she needs to pray to the Lord God to help her deal with that sin.”
>
> Maya heard the comments and recoiled. “It was kind of strange that he said it like a hypothetical,” she says. “It was really kind of unpleasant.”
How’d you like to have your own dad refer to you hypothetically? Jesus.
And, of course, the obligatory Daily Show link: [It’s not a good sign when you’re running for office and your own party has an alibi for the decision.](http://www.thedailyshow.com/video/index.jhtml?videoId=108471&title=License-to-Ill)
---
### Author:  [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)
#### Post date: [November 19, 2008, 10:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/alan-keyes-is-suing-obama/473513/24 "2008-11-19T22:03:15Z")
> [@Gangster\_Octopus](#):
>
> Unless I see video of Obama being birthed with a same day newspaper headline from the Oahu Times Chronicle Bee, I gotta go with Keyes on this one.
And that paper had better have a headline “future President born today.”
---
### Author:  [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skald_the_Rhymer)
#### Post date: [November 19, 2008, 10:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/alan-keyes-is-suing-obama/473513/25 "2008-11-19T22:07:35Z")
> [@ivylass](#):
>
> No, **Skald** , relax. Keyes was imported by the GOP to run against Obama after Jeri Ryan’s husband exploded in flames.
>
> _Him_ I blame.
>
> Keyes needs to go away.
I wasn’t complaining about GOP racism, **ivylass** ; I remind you that I used to be Republican until they threw fiscal responsibility to the geese. I was joking.
---
### Author:  [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skald_the_Rhymer)
#### Post date: [November 19, 2008, 10:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/alan-keyes-is-suing-obama/473513/26 "2008-11-19T22:08:36Z")
> [@Paul in Saudi](#):
>
> I met him once. Nutty as a fruitcake, with raisins for eyes.
I’m stealing this.
---
### Author:  [@Kolga](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kolga)
#### Post date: [November 19, 2008, 10:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/alan-keyes-is-suing-obama/473513/27 "2008-11-19T22:48:22Z")
> [@Johnny\_L.A](#):
>
> The GOP couldn’t be _that_ stupid. That would be like putting a woman on the Presidential ticket just because they women’s votes.
golf clap
---
### Author:  [@Tuckerfan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tuckerfan)
#### Post date: [December 5, 2008, 8:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/alan-keyes-is-suing-obama/473513/28 "2008-12-05T08:51:57Z")
[SCOTUS to announce if they’re going to hear case.](http://www.caribbeanworldnews.com/middle_top_news_detail.php?mid=1784)
> [@](#):
>
> The U.S. Supreme Court is set to decide today whether to they will hear a lawsuit challenging President-elect Barack Obama’s qualifications to be president.
>
> The lawsuit by a New Jersey lawyer is the latest in a handful that claims that Obama is not a natural born U.S. citizen, which the constitution requires of presidents. Attorney Leo Donofrio concedes that while Obama was born in Hawaii, the President-elect is a British citizen because of his father’s British citizenship. Obama`s father was born in Kenya, which was a British colony until 1963.
Wonder how many of the activist judges appointed by a Republican will rule in favor of Obama?
---
### Author:  [@Don\_t\_Call\_Me\_Shirley](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Don_t_Call_Me_Shirley)
#### Post date: [December 5, 2008, 1:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/alan-keyes-is-suing-obama/473513/29 "2008-12-05T13:19:11Z")
> [@Tuckerfan](#):
>
> Wonder how many of the activist judges appointed by a Republican will rule in favor of Obama?
I’d say roughly all of them.
---
### Author:  [@Don\_t\_Call\_Me\_Shirley](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Don_t_Call_Me_Shirley)
#### Post date: [December 5, 2008, 1:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/alan-keyes-is-suing-obama/473513/30 "2008-12-05T13:21:52Z")
> [@Voyager](#):
>
> And that paper had better have a headline “future President born today.”
There was a birth announcement in the Honolulu paper. Damn those conspirators, they thought of everything! They had the foresight, in 1961, to put an announcement in a Hawaiian paper about a baby born in Kenya, knowing that one day he would be elected POTUS.
---
### Author:  [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)
#### Post date: [December 5, 2008, 1:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/alan-keyes-is-suing-obama/473513/31 "2008-12-05T13:42:59Z")
This whole questioning of his citizenship is stupid - he was born in Hawaii, which makes him a citizen. His mother was a US citizen at the time of his birth, which makes him a citizen. How retarded are these people?
---
### Author:  [@Tuckerfan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tuckerfan)
#### Post date: [December 5, 2008, 1:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/alan-keyes-is-suing-obama/473513/32 "2008-12-05T13:50:12Z")
> [@Broomstick](#):
>
> This whole questioning of his citizenship is stupid - he was born in Hawaii, which makes him a citizen. His mother was a US citizen at the time of his birth, which makes him a citizen. How retarded are these people?
They’re Americans, so the answer to your question is: Extremely.
---
### Author:  [@Campion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Campion)
#### Post date: [December 5, 2008, 2:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/alan-keyes-is-suing-obama/473513/33 "2008-12-05T14:36:48Z")
How odd. This is the first I’ve heard of this, as it hasn’t been covered on any of the appellate blogs. If SCOTUS is indeed considering this case in conference today, insiders don’t give it odds of being granted cert as it’s not listed [here](http://www.scotusblog.com/wp/petitions-to-watch-conferences-of-12508-121208/). But if they vote to hear it, they’ll announce that Monday.
But, yeah, talk about an uphill battle. “I know he was born in the US to a US mother – but he had a non-US dad! And, um, I know he has a US passport and all, but he totally could have changed citizenships some time!”
---
### Author:  [@It\_s\_Not\_Rocket\_Surgery](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/It_s_Not_Rocket_Surgery)
#### Post date: [December 5, 2008, 3:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/alan-keyes-is-suing-obama/473513/34 "2008-12-05T15:15:50Z")
> [@Broomstick](#):
>
> This whole questioning of his citizenship is stupid - he was born in Hawaii, which makes him a citizen. His mother was a US citizen at the time of his birth, which makes him a citizen. How retarded are these people?
Very:
> **[The fringe movement to keep Barack Obama from becoming president.](https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2008/12/the-fringe-movement-to-keep-barack-obama-from-becoming-president.html)**
>
> If you want to stop Barack Obama from becoming president, there's still time. But you have to act right now. Go to RallyCongress.com, and you can be...
---
### Author:  [@Paul\_in\_Qatar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Paul_in_Qatar)
#### Post date: [December 5, 2008, 3:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/alan-keyes-is-suing-obama/473513/35 "2008-12-05T15:56:29Z")
The nationality of his parents is not a factor in any way. He was born in the US. That is enough.
---
### Author:  [@TroubleAgain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TroubleAgain)
#### Post date: [December 5, 2008, 4:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/alan-keyes-is-suing-obama/473513/36 "2008-12-05T16:08:40Z")
> [@Broomstick](#):
>
> This whole questioning of his citizenship is stupid - he was born in Hawaii, which makes him a citizen. His mother was a US citizen at the time of his birth, which makes him a citizen. How retarded are these people?
Yeah, no kidding. I was born overseas, to American parents. Oh, noes, am I not an American?:rolleyes:
---
### Author:  [@Bricker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bricker)
#### Post date: [December 5, 2008, 4:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/alan-keyes-is-suing-obama/473513/37 "2008-12-05T16:09:42Z")
> [@Paul in Saudi](#):
>
> The nationality of his parents is not a factor in any way. He was born in the US. That is enough.
As I understand it, the suit is questioning this assertion: they claim he wasn’t born in the U.S.
---
### Author:  [@Bricker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bricker)
#### Post date: [December 5, 2008, 4:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/alan-keyes-is-suing-obama/473513/38 "2008-12-05T16:14:21Z")
Don’t get me wrong: I believe this suit to be without merit.
But let’s play along: suppose I allege the following:
1. Obama was born in Kenya.
2. His father was never a US citizen.
3. His mother was a U.S. citizen, but renounced her citizenship prior to her son’s birth.
If those facts were proven, would you agree Obama is not a natural-born citizen?
---
### Author:  [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)
#### Post date: [December 5, 2008, 4:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/alan-keyes-is-suing-obama/473513/39 "2008-12-05T16:29:32Z")
> [@Bricker](#):
>
> 1. His mother was a U.S. citizen, but renounced her citizenship prior to her son’s birth.
What is the means for renouncing one’s U.S. citizenship? I think we’ve had some threads on that subject, but I don’t know the answer. Would she have renounced her citizenship if she became a resident or citizen of Kenya?
---
### Author:  [@Simplicio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Simplicio)
#### Post date: [December 5, 2008, 4:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/alan-keyes-is-suing-obama/473513/40 "2008-12-05T16:32:50Z")
> [@bricker](#):
>
> If those facts were proven, would you agree Obama is not a natural-born citizen?
Yes.
I don’t think the conspiracy theorists are claiming #3 though, are they? Presumably renouncing citizenship generates some paperwork, and since such paperwork doesn’t exist, it would give them yet another fact they’d have to explain away.
I’ve heard varying things on what the citizenship of a child is if he’s born in a foreign country with only one US citizen as parent.
[Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/alan-keyes-is-suing-obama/473513.md?page=1)
[Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/alan-keyes-is-suing-obama/473513.md?page=3)