# Birthers launch a new attack - on Romney **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Created:** [March 23, 2012, 4:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/birthers-launch-a-new-attack-on-romney/616613 "2012-03-23T16:25:10Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Gyrate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gyrate/32/3588_2.png) [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2012, 4:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/birthers-launch-a-new-attack-on-romney/616613/1 "2012-03-23T16:25:10Z")
At first I thought this was a spoof but no, apparently a group of Birthers have demanded that California confirm Mitt’s eligibility for office because, [well…](http://now.msn.com/now/0322-romney-vs-birthers.aspx) > [@](#): > > One birther explains that Romney’s citizenship is up for debate because his dad was born in Mexico. Thats right, Mitt Romney’s father was born in the Mexican colony that Mitt’s great-grandfather founded after fleeing the United States so he could stay married to Romney’s four great-grandmothers. Let’s all just let that sink in for a moment. So at least it’s not just a race thing with them, I suppose. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2012, 4:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/birthers-launch-a-new-attack-on-romney/616613/2 "2012-03-23T16:29:56Z")
Some of my great-grandparents might have owned slaves, so what? Are we going to hold people responsible for things their grandparents did? And, anyway, running over the border simply to **keep** your four wives that you’ve already got has a romantic quality to it, ISTM. Loves them all, can’t decide which ones to put away, vamonos! ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2012, 4:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/birthers-launch-a-new-attack-on-romney/616613/3 "2012-03-23T16:29:59Z")
How do they get from that to him not being an American citizen? Fucking crackpots. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2012, 4:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/birthers-launch-a-new-attack-on-romney/616613/4 "2012-03-23T16:30:11Z")
> [@Gyrate](#): > > So at least it’s not just a race thing with them, I suppose. With those ones, I guess not. Are we going to have to deal with this braindead bullshit every presidential election from now on? I guess it will become easier to tune out over time… ---
**Author:** ![Steve\_MB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/steve_mb/32/5339_2.png) [@Steve\_MB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Steve_MB)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2012, 4:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/birthers-launch-a-new-attack-on-romney/616613/5 "2012-03-23T16:33:07Z")
> [@Gyrate](#): > > So at least it’s not just a race thing with them, I suppose. Stupidity knows no skin color. ---
**Author:** ![Steve\_MB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/steve_mb/32/5339_2.png) [@Steve\_MB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Steve_MB)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2012, 4:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/birthers-launch-a-new-attack-on-romney/616613/6 "2012-03-23T16:34:48Z")
> [@Marley23](#): > > Are we going to have to deal with this braindead bullshit every presidential election from now on? I can already hear the conspiracy theories: “This so-called ‘birth certificate’ was obviously forged on an Etch a Sketch…” 😛 ---
**Author:** ![Chessic\_Sense](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/7c8e57/32.png) [@Chessic\_Sense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chessic_Sense)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2012, 4:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/birthers-launch-a-new-attack-on-romney/616613/7 "2012-03-23T16:35:02Z")
> [@Gyrate](#): > > So at least it’s not just a race thing with them, I suppose. It never was. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2012, 4:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/birthers-launch-a-new-attack-on-romney/616613/8 "2012-03-23T16:38:08Z")
> [@Chessic\_Sense](#): > > It never was. [[Five pages of prolonged debate on the precise nature of the fucktardery these people on practicing.]] ---
**Author:** ![Gyrate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gyrate/32/3588_2.png) [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2012, 4:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/birthers-launch-a-new-attack-on-romney/616613/9 "2012-03-23T16:40:26Z")
> [@Marley23](#): > > [[Five pages of prolonged debate on the precise nature of the fucktardery these people on practicing.]] Well yes. Once you cut through all the layers, the heart of the issue is 24-karat Stupid. ---
**Author:** ![Steve\_MB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/steve_mb/32/5339_2.png) [@Steve\_MB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Steve_MB)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2012, 4:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/birthers-launch-a-new-attack-on-romney/616613/10 "2012-03-23T16:40:47Z")
> [@Chessic\_Sense](#): > > It never was. The mixture of racism, partisanship, and just plain rock-bottom stupidity varies from birther to birther, though few if any are completely lacking in any of the three. ---
**Author:** ![Lobohan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lobohan/32/79_2.png) [@Lobohan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lobohan)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2012, 4:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/birthers-launch-a-new-attack-on-romney/616613/11 "2012-03-23T16:41:21Z")
> [@Chessic\_Sense](#): > > It never was. Absurd. Birtherism is totally about race. But in this case, the same segment that hates Obama with a passion, also hates Romney. Go to the freepers and watch how they talk about him. They hate Romney so much it’s comical. What has happened, is the same group of racist cocksuckers who are the core constituency of the Birther movement see the ability to use their panoply of nonsense attacks against another guy they hate. I mean, a racist can lynch a white dude. He already owns the rope. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2012, 4:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/birthers-launch-a-new-attack-on-romney/616613/12 "2012-03-23T16:42:19Z")
Anyway, [George Romney](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_W._Romney) (Mitt’s Dad) was born in Mexico, but both his parents were U.S. citizens, born in Utah\*, and monogamous, and happened to settle at a Mormon colony in Mexico. > [@](#): > > Romney’s parents, Gaskell Romney (1871–1955) and Anna Amelia Pratt (1876–1926), were American citizens and natives of Utah. They married in 1895 in Mexico and lived in Colonia Dublán in Galeana in the state of Chihuahua (one of the Mormon colonies in Mexico) where George was born on July 8, 1907.[1][3][6] They practiced monogamy[1] (polygamy having been abolished by the 1890 Manifesto, although it persisted in places, especially Mexico).[7] George had three older brothers, two younger brothers, and a younger sister.[8] Gaskell Romney was a successful carpenter, house builder, and farmer who headed the most prosperous family in the colony,[9][10] which was situated in an agricultural valley below the Sierra Madre Occidental.[11] The family chose U.S. citizenship for their children, including George.[11] (However you do that.) - But before it was a state (1896), let’s see if they touch **that**. . . 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Damuri\_Ajashi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/898d66/32.png) [@Damuri\_Ajashi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Damuri_Ajashi)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2012, 4:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/birthers-launch-a-new-attack-on-romney/616613/13 "2012-03-23T16:58:11Z")
> [@Gyrate](#): > > At first I thought this was a spoof but no, apparently a group of Birthers have demanded that California confirm Mitt’s eligibility for office because, [well…](http://now.msn.com/now/0322-romney-vs-birthers.aspx)So at least it’s not just a race thing with them, I suppose. > [@Chessic\_Sense](#): > > It never was. Sure it was. You don’t call bigotry against Mornons racism but its still bigotry. bigotry against blacks is a form of racism. ---
**Author:** ![Monty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/monty/32/47_2.png) [@Monty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Monty)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2012, 6:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/birthers-launch-a-new-attack-on-romney/616613/14 "2012-03-23T18:26:48Z")
I find myself wondering how much of this particular manifestatio of stupidity is based on bigotry against Mexicans. ---
**Author:** ![pravnik](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/8edcca/32.png) [@pravnik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pravnik)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2012, 7:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/birthers-launch-a-new-attack-on-romney/616613/15 "2012-03-23T19:06:54Z")
> [@Monty](#): > > I find myself wondering how much of this particular manifestatio of stupidity is based on bigotry against Mexicans. _He terk er jerbs!_ ---
**Author:** ![JRDelirious](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jrdelirious/32/9531_2.png) [@JRDelirious](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JRDelirious)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2012, 7:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/birthers-launch-a-new-attack-on-romney/616613/16 "2012-03-23T19:25:30Z")
> [@Chefguy](#): > > How do they get from that to him not being an American citizen? Fucking crackpots. In the later episodes of the “regular” Birther’s lunacy, such as the Georgia ballot case, there has arisen the notion that the President’s natural-born-citizen status can be questioned on the basis that it’s not the same thing as born-a-citizen, and that it requires a further set of entirely contrived hoop-jumping conditions that have never been raised in the past 220 years :rolleyes: Birtherism of course is based on lies. The lies in original birtherism were that Obama was not born in the USA and had lived under other citizenships. (BTW am I the only one who sees in it also a thinly disguised race-mixing-slut-shaming of his mother for marrying Mr. Obama and Mr. Soetoro?) One of the _fundamental_ lies in at least one version of “NatCit-not-equal-to-BornCit” _neo-Birtherism_ is that somehow NBC requires that _both_ your parents be citizens _and_ not even eligible for any other citizenship, even if you’re born on Plymouth Rock itself. This of course would nuke every candidate born to immigrant parents in the past but don’t confuse the poor darlings… That would then in turn be the basis for a _subordinate lie_ in anti-Romney bitherism, NOT that George Romney was born in Mexico to American expats, which is indisputable, but rather: that he and his progeny are tainted with being the issue of _a polygamous marriage entered by people who fled the USA to maintain that lifestyle_. The intent is to create the impression that (a) The Romneys come from a lineage of polygamist-fringe LDS groups, (b) George Romney’s parents somehow renounced or forfeited citizenship and (c) he was not the issue of a legitimate marriage. And yes, I suppose it includes elements of anti-Mormon and anti-Mexican bigotry alike. Though Mr. Santorum may want to throw up at evoking JFK, it all harkens back to _spreading the notion that_ Romney or Obama or whatever _candidate may have an “ulterior loyalty” in the spiritual or family realm to someone or something “alien”_ to “Real America” (which is traditionalist-Christian, exclusively Anglophone, western-European in descent), a historical bugaboo of many reactionaries. Birtherism just tries to disguise that under the cover of that they just believe the candidates in question don’t comply with an imaginary technicality of law. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2012, 7:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/birthers-launch-a-new-attack-on-romney/616613/17 "2012-03-23T19:31:46Z")
I’ve yet to see any explanation other than race for why the birthers went after Obama but not McCain. ---
**Author:** ![Tom\_Scud](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/f08c70/32.png) [@Tom\_Scud](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tom_Scud)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2012, 7:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/birthers-launch-a-new-attack-on-romney/616613/18 "2012-03-23T19:39:31Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > I’ve yet to see any explanation other than race for why the birthers went after Obama but not McCain. Partisanship? ---
**Author:** ![Blaster\_Master](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/cab0a1/32.png) [@Blaster\_Master](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Blaster_Master)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2012, 7:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/birthers-launch-a-new-attack-on-romney/616613/19 "2012-03-23T19:56:19Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > I’ve yet to see any explanation other than race for why the birthers went after Obama but not McCain. When it became a rightwing issue, McCain was the Republican candidate, so they may not have liked him, but he was the best they were going to get. They’re doing it now because they’re really hoping against Romney getting nominated, but I imagine if/when he does, it’ll go away. It’s the same reason we had the musical chairs of leading conservative candidates until they ended up with only Santorum remaining. I’m sure race is part of it for some birthers, but I imagine we’d still have seen the whole birther thing even if Obama was white, just maybe not quite to the same degree. I’d guess it’ll now become part of the standard political playbook whenever there’s even the tiniest possible shred that could be twisted into a story. ---
**Author:** ![Meltdown](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Meltdown](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Meltdown)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2012, 8:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/birthers-launch-a-new-attack-on-romney/616613/20 "2012-03-23T20:23:58Z")
> [@](#): > > Thats right, Mitt Romney’s father was born in the Mexican colony that Mitt’s great-grandfather founded after fleeing the United States so he could stay married to Romney’s **four great-grandmothers.** Technically, only one of them was Romney’s great-grandmother. Unless… :eek: [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/birthers-launch-a-new-attack-on-romney/616613.md?page=2)