# Has Obama spent a million dollars to hide his birth certificate? **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [August 9, 2009, 10:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-obama-spent-a-million-dollars-to-hide-his-birth-certificate/505877 "2009-08-09T22:44:05Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2009, 12:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-obama-spent-a-million-dollars-to-hide-his-birth-certificate/505877/81 "2009-08-13T00:41:33Z")
Because there’s no reason to. The REPUBLICAN governor of Hawaii has said that she’s seen the damn vault copy and that Obama was born there. Why should Obama go out of his way to cater to a bunch of nutters who should be fucking locked up in an asylum for believing this stupid shit? Maybe he should offer proof that he’s not being advised by an invisible extraterrestrial who lives in his skull and tells him to destroy America. ---
**Author:** ![wonky](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wonky/32/393_2.png) [@wonky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wonky)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2009, 12:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-obama-spent-a-million-dollars-to-hide-his-birth-certificate/505877/82 "2009-08-13T00:44:08Z")
> [@ManiacMan](#): > > I don’t understand how Obama can’t just get this “vault” copy…original copy or whatever and settle the issue once and for all. Am I missing something? It seems like it would be the thing to do to shut everyone up about it. Know what I mean? I can go to the city hall where I was born almost 40 years ago and get a copy of my mine for $7.00 and its pretty easy to do. Hardly any line at all most days…why can’t he do that? Right. Showing the certificate that works for everything else didn’t work. Having the Republican governor of the state verify it didn’t work. Having a government employee confirm it’s valid TWICE didn’t work. But you think there’s a magical piece of paper that will make birthers okay with a black Democrat being in the White House. ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2009, 12:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-obama-spent-a-million-dollars-to-hide-his-birth-certificate/505877/83 "2009-08-13T00:46:21Z")
> [@ManiacMan](#): > > I don’t understand how Obama can’t just get this “vault” copy…original copy or whatever and settle the issue once and for all. Am I missing something? It seems like it would be the thing to do to shut everyone up about it. Know what I mean? I can go to the city hall where I was born almost 40 years ago and get a copy of my mine for $7.00 and its pretty easy to do. Hardly any line at all most days…why can’t he do that? Because the birthers would just say that all the time that has passed has given “them” time to make a phony vault copy. NOTHING will convince the nutters. ---
**Author:** ![wonky](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wonky/32/393_2.png) [@wonky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wonky)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2009, 12:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-obama-spent-a-million-dollars-to-hide-his-birth-certificate/505877/84 "2009-08-13T00:57:51Z")
And I don’t want a precedent that says, “Your birth certificate? Not good enough.” I don’t want a precedent that says, “If you’re stupid enough, you can get the president to jump through your hoops.” I don’t want a precedent that says, “If you’re black, you need to prove yourself more than the white people do.” I don’t want a precedent that says, “Conspiracy theorists are important and must be appeased!” I don’t want a precedent that says, “Instead of you proving my guilt, I have to prove my innocence.” ---
**Author:** ![ManiacMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b782af/32.png) [@ManiacMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ManiacMan)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2009, 1:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-obama-spent-a-million-dollars-to-hide-his-birth-certificate/505877/85 "2009-08-13T01:25:21Z")
I think it would be funny for Obama to say “Here it is you stupid bastards…read it and weep”. ---
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2009, 1:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-obama-spent-a-million-dollars-to-hide-his-birth-certificate/505877/86 "2009-08-13T01:28:55Z")
> [@ManiacMan](#): > > I think it would be funny for Obama to say “Here it is you stupid bastards…read it and weep”. The thing is that it wouldn’t matter. Nothing will ever be good enough for the Birthers. If we had video of Obama’s birth, including some supersecret birthmark that he’s never revealed as a way of proving the baby and the man are the same, with a shot of a Honolulu street sign, the Birthers wouldn’t believe it. If there were a giant glowing Hand of God coming out of the sky and pointing at Obama while a booming voice shouted “He was born in Hawaii!”, the Birthers wouldn’t believe it. NOTHING will satisfy them because they haven’t reached their current beliefs through logic. ---
**Author:** ![wonky](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wonky/32/393_2.png) [@wonky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wonky)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2009, 1:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-obama-spent-a-million-dollars-to-hide-his-birth-certificate/505877/87 "2009-08-13T01:35:52Z")
> [@jayjay](#): > > The thing is that it wouldn’t matter. Nothing will ever be good enough for the Birthers. If we had video of Obama’s birth, including some supersecret birthmark that he’s never revealed as a way of proving the baby and the man are the same, with a shot of a Honolulu street sign, the Birthers wouldn’t believe it. If there were a giant glowing Hand of God coming out of the sky and pointing at Obama while a booming voice shouted “He was born in Hawaii!”, the Birthers wouldn’t believe it. NOTHING will satisfy them because they haven’t reached their current beliefs through logic. And it’s really hard to convince someone of something they desperately don’t want to believe. ---
**Author:** ![ManiacMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b782af/32.png) [@ManiacMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ManiacMan)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2009, 1:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-obama-spent-a-million-dollars-to-hide-his-birth-certificate/505877/88 "2009-08-13T01:53:45Z")
I hear what you are all saying I really do, but in a case like this I don’t think it would matter what a bunch of nutters believe, ot don’t believe. If the rest of the world…the sane people…saw this gold standard BC it would completely smash these birthers back to the stone age. And I think that that would be worth…alot. ---
**Author:** ![wonky](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wonky/32/393_2.png) [@wonky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wonky)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2009, 1:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-obama-spent-a-million-dollars-to-hide-his-birth-certificate/505877/89 "2009-08-13T01:55:13Z")
The sane people already know it. The only people who don’t believe it are imbeciles and liars. ---
**Author:** ![Revtim](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/revtim/32/1042_2.png) [@Revtim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Revtim)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2009, 2:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-obama-spent-a-million-dollars-to-hide-his-birth-certificate/505877/90 "2009-08-13T02:01:30Z")
Even if Obama could show them the vault copy and end it, maybe he doesn’t want to end it. These folks are doing damage to the GOP. ---
**Author:** ![Orbifold](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/779978/32.png) [@Orbifold](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Orbifold)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2009, 2:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-obama-spent-a-million-dollars-to-hide-his-birth-certificate/505877/91 "2009-08-13T02:13:19Z")
> [@ManiacMan](#): > > I hear what you are all saying I really do, but in a case like this I don’t think it would matter what a bunch of nutters believe, ot don’t believe. If the rest of the world…the sane people…saw this gold standard BC it would completely smash these birthers back to the stone age. And I think that that would be worth…alot. Sane people have already seen the “gold standard”. The certification of live birth _is_ the gold standard, to sane people. Showing Obama’s certification of live birth to the world…something no other president of the U.S. in living memory has ever had to do…didn’t stop the birthers. I want to emphasize that last point. _Obama has already jumped through more hoops to prove his eligibility than any other U.S. President in living memory._ The sane response, at this point, is not to demand more _of Obama_. The sane response is tell the birthers, “SHUT. THE F\*\*\*. UP.” It is not sane to pander to desperate lunatics. ---
**Author:** ![gonzomax](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e8c25b/32.png) [@gonzomax](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gonzomax)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2009, 2:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-obama-spent-a-million-dollars-to-hide-his-birth-certificate/505877/92 "2009-08-13T02:14:00Z")
Obama showed the birth certificate. The newspaper announcements showing his birth have been publicized. He owes them nothing else. For everybody else in the world that would be more than enough. Fuck them. He owes nothing. As a matter of fact he did not have to show a thing to the critics. But he decided to go along. They will weasel around again.He is wasting time that could be spent better on other things. ---
**Author:** ![Frank](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Frank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frank)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2009, 2:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-obama-spent-a-million-dollars-to-hide-his-birth-certificate/505877/93 "2009-08-13T02:59:19Z")
> [@OttoDaFe](#): > > No, but the forgers who were responsible for forging the forgery on which the forgery was based, have been [DEL]forged[/DEL] sacked. A møøse bit my førger ønce. No, rly. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2009, 4:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-obama-spent-a-million-dollars-to-hide-his-birth-certificate/505877/94 "2009-08-13T04:21:47Z")
> [@ManiacMan](#): > > I hear what you are all saying I really do, but in a case like this I don’t think it would matter what a bunch of nutters believe, ot don’t believe. If the rest of the world…the sane people…saw this gold standard BC it would completely smash these birthers back to the stone age. And I think that that would be worth…alot. So it’s not you-it’s the rest of the world? Rrriiiggghhhttt. I think I’ll wait for the rest of the world to tell us this directly, if you don’t mind. ---
**Author:** ![Onomatopoeia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/onomatopoeia/32/4145_2.png) [@Onomatopoeia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Onomatopoeia)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2009, 4:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-obama-spent-a-million-dollars-to-hide-his-birth-certificate/505877/95 "2009-08-13T04:39:52Z")
> [@jayjay](#): > > The thing is that it wouldn’t matter. Nothing will ever be good enough for the Birthers. If we had video of Obama’s birth, including some supersecret birthmark that he’s never revealed as a way of proving the baby and the man are the same, with a shot of a Honolulu street sign, the Birthers wouldn’t believe it. If there were a giant glowing Hand of God coming out of the sky and pointing at Obama while a booming voice shouted “He was born in Hawaii!”, the Birthers wouldn’t believe it. NOTHING will satisfy them because they haven’t reached their current beliefs through logic. There is one thing that would satisfy them - If Obama were to miraculously wake up white. Barring that, you’re quite correct… Birthers today, birthers tamarrah, birthers fowevah! ---
**Author:** ![Knorf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/58956e/32.png) [@Knorf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Knorf)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2009, 4:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-obama-spent-a-million-dollars-to-hide-his-birth-certificate/505877/96 "2009-08-13T04:40:38Z")
> [@Revtim](#): > > Even if Obama could show them the vault copy and end it, maybe he doesn’t want to end it. These folks are doing damage to the GOP. I wish I were sure this was true. ---
**Author:** ![Leaper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/4bbf92/32.png) [@Leaper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaper)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2009, 6:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-obama-spent-a-million-dollars-to-hide-his-birth-certificate/505877/97 "2009-08-13T06:12:57Z")
Well, certain prominent conservative bloggers I’ve read, including Michelle Malkin, are certainly afraid it might be - enough to write discouraging Birtherism despite the blowback from their commenters. IIRC, the arguments are that it’s a distraction from their “real” issues with Obama, and that those who believe in it are leaning on it as a panacea that will magically make all their problems go away if they just pushed it hard enough. Plus, apparently even they think Birthers are, uh, misguided. Besides which, I kind of doubt that if it’s NOT doing damage to the GOP that it’s helping them any. And if it’s not, that’s wasted effort, which may be damage in of itself. _shrugs_ Who knows, though. ---
**Author:** ![Mighty\_Girl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7bcc69/32.png) [@Mighty\_Girl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mighty_Girl)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2009, 3:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-obama-spent-a-million-dollars-to-hide-his-birth-certificate/505877/98 "2009-08-14T15:12:44Z")
You fools have failed to discover the real conspiracy in all this: Barack Obama’s campaign started the birther movement, it is composed mainly of covert Democrats intent on damaging the GOP reputation. They are doing this to make Republicans look like either incompetents who can’t shut up a bunch of loons, or downright insane. By feeding the fake conspiracy (the MSM is in all this) it makes Obama look cool, collected and sane enough to be trusted by real Americans, giving him the cover he needs to hide the real truth: He is Kodos! ---
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2009, 3:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-obama-spent-a-million-dollars-to-hide-his-birth-certificate/505877/99 "2009-08-14T15:19:08Z")
> [@Mighty\_Girl](#): > > He is Kodos! Hmmm…abortions for some, tiny American flags for others. Sounds about right… ---
**Author:** ![CurtC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ce73a5/32.png) [@CurtC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CurtC)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2009, 4:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-obama-spent-a-million-dollars-to-hide-his-birth-certificate/505877/100 "2009-08-14T16:37:16Z")
I voted for Kodos. So I guess you can blame me. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-obama-spent-a-million-dollars-to-hide-his-birth-certificate/505877.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-obama-spent-a-million-dollars-to-hide-his-birth-certificate/505877.md?page=6)