# First the truthers, then the birthers, now the third termers? **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Created:** [November 27, 2012, 12:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/first-the-truthers-then-the-birthers-now-the-third-termers/642221 "2012-11-27T00:22:05Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![iiandyiiii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/iiandyiiii/32/7924_2.png) [@iiandyiiii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iiandyiiii)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2012, 12:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/first-the-truthers-then-the-birthers-now-the-third-termers/642221/1 "2012-11-27T00:22:05Z")
I’ve heard it rattling around the nut-o-sphere, and now [here](http://www.usnews.com/news/articles/2012/11/26/obama-seeking-third-term-entrepreneur-scares-up-business-with-dubious-claim). Is this going to take off like the other conspiracy theories? I think it might, but unlike the other two, it should be pretty easy to debunk (we just need, oh, say, about 4 years of patience). ---
**Author:** ![R.P.McMurphy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/7993a0/32.png) [@R.P.McMurphy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/R.P.McMurphy)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2012, 12:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/first-the-truthers-then-the-birthers-now-the-third-termers/642221/2 "2012-11-27T00:27:17Z")
I think Michelle would assassinate him if he tried to seek a third term. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Ethilrist](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ethilrist/32/4604_2.png) [@Ethilrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ethilrist)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2012, 12:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/first-the-truthers-then-the-birthers-now-the-third-termers/642221/3 "2012-11-27T00:27:44Z")
nah, we had the same furor at the start of W’s 2nd term. Even the most rabid of conspiracy broadcasters has to admit that the rules here are very clearly-stated, as are the series of steps needed to change them. So, absent stuff happening in congress, ain’t gonna happen. ---
**Author:** ![thirdwarning](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ecccb3/32.png) [@thirdwarning](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thirdwarning)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2012, 12:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/first-the-truthers-then-the-birthers-now-the-third-termers/642221/4 "2012-11-27T00:51:31Z")
Part of the backup for this is that ‘he’s already made 60 laws that are unconstitutional, so he wouldn’t have a problem going against the constitution for this, too’ When I mentioned that a law (which he can’t actually pass by himself) is a bit different from an amendment, that was the end of the conversation. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2012, 12:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/first-the-truthers-then-the-birthers-now-the-third-termers/642221/5 "2012-11-27T00:56:13Z")
We had another thread about this earlier. It seems to happen any time a president gets re-elected. No matter who the president is, some of his critics will think he’s a monster who is going to run roughshod over the Constitution and refuse to give up power. ---
**Author:** ![R.P.McMurphy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/7993a0/32.png) [@R.P.McMurphy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/R.P.McMurphy)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2012, 1:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/first-the-truthers-then-the-birthers-now-the-third-termers/642221/6 "2012-11-27T01:10:17Z")
The conspiracy nuts and Obama haters will never give up. Their life is predicated on a feeling of fear. They are fear junkies and need it just like a heroin addict needs a fix. Maybe what we should all do is go on their sites and feed the fear. Tell them that we have a friend of a friend who works in top level advisory position for Obama and that they swear that a plan in being hatched in a super secret think tank. They have used the Secret Service to find out information on Senators and Representatives. The Colombian prostitute scandal has been used to blackmail the entire agency. With the information they have gathered they will overturn the Constitution. It will have to do with emergency powers. They are also using the Bloomberg model where he did an end around on term limits to get a third term. That’s why Bloomberg supported Obama at the end of the campaign. It had nothing to do with Sandy. I just made all of this up but feel free to expound on it and put it out there. Make it go viral. The ass-wipes need more of their own drug. We can only hope that they OD without killing anyone else. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2012, 1:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/first-the-truthers-then-the-birthers-now-the-third-termers/642221/7 "2012-11-27T01:12:07Z")
I am sure the trolls are way, way ahead of you on that one. ---
**Author:** ![Oakminster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/77aa72/32.png) [@Oakminster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oakminster)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2012, 1:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/first-the-truthers-then-the-birthers-now-the-third-termers/642221/8 "2012-11-27T01:32:51Z")
The new conspiracy nutters are those that insist there is some right wing plot to impeach Obama at any cost. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2012, 1:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/first-the-truthers-then-the-birthers-now-the-third-termers/642221/9 "2012-11-27T01:34:44Z")
That’s less a conspiracy theory than a pessimistic prediction. ---
**Author:** ![VinylTurnip](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b2d939/32.png) [@VinylTurnip](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VinylTurnip)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2012, 1:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/first-the-truthers-then-the-birthers-now-the-third-termers/642221/10 "2012-11-27T01:55:41Z")
> [@Oakminster](#): > > The new conspiracy nutters are those that insist there is some right wing plot to impeach Obama at any cost. I’m assuming the “nuttery” lies solely in your qualifier “at any cost” (whatever that means), because surely you would not (with a straight face) suggest that the idea that Republicans would jump at the chance to impeach Obama if the opportunity presents itself is equally (or more) tinfoil-hat ludicrous than speculation that Obama will declare himself dictator and refuse to leave office at the end of his term. Right? One scenario is just _slightly_ more plausible than the other, isn’t it? [This guy](http://ed.msnbc.com/_news/2012/06/26/12420356-top-gop-senator-floats-idea-of-impeaching-obama?chromedomain=leanforward&lite), who happens to be the Senate Minority Whip (the second-highest position in the Republican Senate leadership, the article tells me!) mentioned the possibility of impeachment, well before Benghazi"gate" even happened. Has Obama (or any Democrat) been publicly floating the idea of a third term? ---
**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:** [November 27, 2012, 1:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/first-the-truthers-then-the-birthers-now-the-third-termers/642221/11 "2012-11-27T01:59:52Z")
> [@](#): > > The new conspiracy nutters are those that insist there is some right wing plot to impeach Obama at any cost. The existence of such a plot is beyond question. It might not be widespread enough to go through, but it certainly exists. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2012, 2:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/first-the-truthers-then-the-birthers-now-the-third-termers/642221/12 "2012-11-27T02:02:27Z")
Ok, cite that there’s a “plot?” There wouldn’t have to be much plotting: the Republicans have a majority in the House. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2012, 2:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/first-the-truthers-then-the-birthers-now-the-third-termers/642221/13 "2012-11-27T02:43:14Z")
> [@Marley23](#): > > Ok, cite that there’s a “plot?” There wouldn’t have to be much plotting: the Republicans have a majority in the House. But since they don’t have the Senate votes to convict him, it would be as pointless as impeaching Clinton turned out to be. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2012, 2:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/first-the-truthers-then-the-birthers-now-the-third-termers/642221/14 "2012-11-27T02:45:33Z")
> [@Marley23](#): > > We had another thread about this earlier. It seems to happen any time a president gets re-elected. No matter who the president is, some of his critics will think he’s a monster who is going to run roughshod over the Constitution and refuse to give up power. But for Watergate, I’m sure Nixon would’ve found a way . . . ---
**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:** [November 27, 2012, 5:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/first-the-truthers-then-the-birthers-now-the-third-termers/642221/15 "2012-11-27T05:03:20Z")
> [@R.P.McMurphy](#): > > Maybe what we should all do is go on their sites and feed the fear. Tell them that we have a friend of a friend who works in top level advisory position for Obama and that they swear that a plan in being hatched in a super secret think tank. The wingnuts already have the details from their _own_ think tank – DERPA. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2012, 5:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/first-the-truthers-then-the-birthers-now-the-third-termers/642221/16 "2012-11-27T05:18:30Z")
Well, if Obama’s going to be a dictator, I hope his SA-or-SS-equivalent has really cool uniforms, something that makes a definitive, relaxed statement in fly urban outerwear without diminishing the arrogant authoritarian menace. ---
**Author:** ![Measure\_for\_Measure](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/measure_for_measure/32/557_2.png) [@Measure\_for\_Measure](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Measure_for_Measure)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2012, 6:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/first-the-truthers-then-the-birthers-now-the-third-termers/642221/17 "2012-11-27T06:03:05Z")
> [@Marley23](#): > > Ok, cite that there’s a “plot?” There wouldn’t have to be much plotting: the Republicans have a majority in the House. Oh, that’s too easy. A plot consists of more than one person acting with a shared goal. My search engine gave me this wnd link: [Obama impeachment bill now in Congress \* WorldNetDaily \* by Drew Zahn](http://www.wnd.com/2012/03/obama-impeachment-bill-now-in-congress/) [QUOTE=A nutjob website] WND EXCLUSIVE Obama impeachment bill now in Congress Let the president be duly warned. Rep. Walter B. Jones Jr., R-N.C., has introduced a resolution declaring that should the president use offensive military force without authorization of an act of Congress, “it is the sense of Congress” that such an act would be “an impeachable high crime and misdemeanor.” … In an exclusive WND column, former U.S. Rep. Tom Tancredo claims that Jones introduced his House Concurrent Resolution 107 in response to startling recent comments from Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta. “This week it was Secretary of Defense Panetta’s declaration before the Senate Armed Services Committee that he and President Obama look not to the Congress for authorization to bomb Syria but to NATO and the United Nations,” Tancredo writes. “This led to Rep. Walter Jones, R-N.C., introducing an official resolution calling for impeachment should Obama take offensive action based on Panetta’s policy statement, because it would violate the Constitution.” Read “The Case for Impeachment” and know why Obama has got to go before America is done for … Get the bumper sticker that tells everyone to Impeach Obama! [/QUOTE] H. Con. Res. 107: [http://www.opencongress.org/bill/112-hc107/show](http://www.opencongress.org/bill/112-hc107/show) Co-sponsors: ``` Rep. Dan Benishek [R, MI-1] Added May 17, 2012 Rep. Mo Brooks [R, AL-5] Added September 21, 2012 Rep. Dan Burton [R, IN-5] Added April 18, 2012 Rep. Mike Coffman [R, CO-6] Added April 18, 2012 Rep. John Duncan [R, TN-2] Added March 22, 2012 Rep. Louis Gohmert [R, TX-1] Added May 17, 2012 Rep. Raul Grijalva [D, AZ-7] Added May 10, 2012 Wthdrawn May 16, 2012 Rep. Dennis Kucinich [D, OH-10] Added September 10, 2012 Rep. Tom McClintock [R, CA-4] Added March 28, 2012 Rep. Michael Michaud [D, ME-2] Added July 25, 2012 Rep. Ronald Paul [R, TX-14] Added July 12, 2012 Rep. Reid Ribble [R, WI-8] Added April 27, 2012 Rep. Lynn Woolsey [D, CA-6] Added September 14, 2012 ``` Ok, so it’s a threat of impeachment, not impeachment itself. I see that Ron Paul and Dennis Kucinich have joined forces on this one, such as they are. Still: it’s a plot, though I suspect bumper sticker sales are pretty high on the agenda. ---
**Author:** ![DataX](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@DataX](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DataX)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2012, 6:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/first-the-truthers-then-the-birthers-now-the-third-termers/642221/18 "2012-11-27T06:10:45Z")
Yes “case for impeachment” has a certain ring to it - and not at all what I would expect from that phrase. Plenty of democrats wouldn’t support taking substantial military action without congressional approval. With regard to the OP - the company mentioned in the link is just a right wing financial newsletter - supported with radio ads and the like (gold, end of the world, USA in decline, etc). This story is just being pushed to try and sell newsletters. He’s been fined by the SEC before for giving misleading financial advice. ---
**Author:** ![Der\_Trihs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/der_trihs/32/233_2.png) [@Der\_Trihs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Der_Trihs)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2012, 7:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/first-the-truthers-then-the-birthers-now-the-third-termers/642221/19 "2012-11-27T07:04:31Z")
As far as the OP goes; right when the election results came in and people were posting the reactions to Obama’s win from various right wing sites, one of the first things I saw was ranting about how he’s going to have himself made President For Life. ---
**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2012, 8:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/first-the-truthers-then-the-birthers-now-the-third-termers/642221/20 "2012-11-27T08:58:02Z")
> [@BrainGlutton](#): > > But since they don’t have the Senate votes to convict him, it would be as pointless as impeaching Clinton turned out to be. 33 House votes to repeal Obamacare says today’s GOP doesn’t know the _meaning_ of the word “pointless”. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/first-the-truthers-then-the-birthers-now-the-third-termers/642221.md?page=2)